Men's interactions with women after viewing sexually explicit films: Does degradation make a difference?

Abstract

Short-term exposure to nonviolent sexual media stimuli can produce cognitive changes in men, which, in turn, can affect their attitudes toward women. This study sought to build on past research by reliably distinguishing between (a) sexually explicit and non-sexual films and (b) sexually explicit films that are either degrading or non-degrading to women. We tested whether men's viewing of these materials affects their judgment of women in subsequent face-to-face interactions. Sex-typed and non sex-typed men (Bem, 1974) viewed one of three equally stimulating film stimuli determined by an independent set of viewers to be: (a) sexually explicit and degrading, (b) sexually explicit and non-degrading, or (c) non-sexual film. After viewing, the men interacted with women and then evaluated their partners' intellectual competence, sexual interest, sexual attractiveness, and sexual permissiveness. Women rated the men's sexual interest, dominance, and their own feelings of degradation during the interaction. No effects for film exposure alone were found for any of these variables, and no interaction effects between film and partners' sex-role orientation were found for women's evaluations of their partners. However, men's sex-role orientation moderated film effects for men's evaluations of their female partners' intellectual competence and sexual interest. These findings are discussed in terms of their consistency with other studies and the potentially negative social implications for everyday male-female interactions.

Viewing Sexually-Explicit Materials Alone or Together: Associations with Relationship Quality

“…Much of the past research on viewing SEM and relationships has been conducted in laboratories using experiments and random assignment (e.g., Glascock, 2005;Jansma et al, 1997; Kenrick et al, 2003). In contrast, the current study asked individuals about their own experiences with SEM and assessed how viewing SEM with one's romantic partner or on one's own was associated with key dimensions of relationship quality.…”

“…Linz, Donnerstein, and Penrod (1988) found that exposure to non-violent pornography did not increase men's judgments of women as sexual objects. Similarly, there is evidence that even watching explicitly degrading pornography does not change men's rating of women's intellectual competence, sexual interest, attractiveness, or permissiveness (Jansma, Linz, Mulac, & Imrich, 1997). Taken together, it appears that although some men may experience increases in negative opinions about women after exposure to SEM, not all men are affected in such negative ways.…”

The Use of Cyberpornography by Young Men in Hong Kong: Some Psychosocial Correlates

“…In the aggregation of experimental research concerning the possible effects of exposure to traditional forms of pornography, sexual aggression and sex-related attitudes have been repeatedly treated as the dependent variables (e.g., Barak & Fisher, 1997;Barak, Fisher, Belfry, & Lashambe, 1999;Jansma, Linz, Mulac, & Imrich, 1997;Padgett, Brislin-Slutz, & Neal, 1989;Zillman & Weaver, 1989). However, as reviewed by Fisher and Barak (2001), studies exploring the influence of Internet pornography are very limited.…”

Heart Rate and Affective Reactions to State Self-Objectification as a Function of Gender

“…The cultural objectification of women exerts many negative impacts at the cultural level, including increased sexist attitudes toward women (Mundorf, Allen, D'Alessio, & Emmers-Sommer, 2007), increased violence against women (Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen, 2010), and decreased appraisals of women's competence (Jansma, Linz, Mulac, & Imrich, 1997). The cultural objectification of women also exerts a detrimental impact at the level of the self in exposed women, a construct referred to as self-objectification (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997;Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998).…”