Sexual Scripts and the Sexual Behavior of Men and Women Who Use Pornography

Abstract

Using data collected from 1,880 heterosexual men and women residing in the United States, this study investigated the associations among gender, pornography consumption, and 20 sexual behaviors observed in popular pornography. Acts were grouped according to whether participants reported engaging or being interested in trying specific sexual behaviors as the (a) aggressor (e.g., hairpulling, spanking, or choking), (b) target (e.g., being spanked or choked), or (c) uncommon and/or degrading sexual activity (e.g., male ejaculation in female partner's mouth, anal sex, double penetration, and ass-to-mouth). Using sexual script theory, we hypothesized greater use of pornography would be associated with greater likelihood of both having engaged in and interest in engaging in these sexual behaviors. We further hypothesized gender differences consistent with pornographic sexual scripts that frequently portray men as aggressors and women as targets of aggression. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed significant main effects for gender and pornography use on the three categories of sexual behavior but no significant interactions. Higher pornography use was associated with greater likelihood of both engaging and being interested in trying all categories of sexual behavior. Men were more likely than women to have engaged in aggressive and degrading/uncommon behaviors, and women were more likely than men to have engaged in target behaviors. However, men were more interested than women in trying all three categories of sexual behavior. Results provide partial support for sexual script theory; while higher pornography use increased interest and prior engagement in pornography-like sexual behavior, the increases in types of sexual behavior (aggressor, target, or uncommon/degrading) were not moderated by gender.

Feeling Scared During Sex: Findings From a U.S. Probability Sample of Women and Men Ages 14 to 60

“…Choking and other aggressive behaviors (such as hitting and forceful hair pulling) were also often described among the scary sexual experiences. Like anal sex, choking appears to have become more commonly portrayed in sexually explicit media and sexual choking behaviors (and interest in choking) are associated with pornography use (Bridges, Sun, Ezzell, & Johnson, 2016;Sun, Wright, & Steffen, 2017). In recent years, choking and various forms of breath restriction/ breath play have also become a part of nonsexual games that some adolescents engage in (Linkletter, Gordon, & Dooley, 2010).…”

Bridging the Theoretical Gap: Using Sexual Script Theory to Explain the Relationship Between Pornography Use and Sexual Coercion

“…Recent empirical studies support this assertion. Research has found particular support for sexual script theory as an explanation for the relationship between pornography use and certain sexual behaviors and attitudes, such as participation in casual sex (Braithwaite, Coulson, Keddington, & Fincham, 2015), “friends with benefits” (FWB) relationships (Braithwaite, Aaron, Dowdle, Spjut, & Fincham, 2015), gendered attitudes toward women (Wright & Bae, 2015), and sexual behaviors (Bridges, Sun, Ezzell, & Johnson, 2016; Sun, Bridges, Johnson, & Ezzell, 2016; Tomaszewska & Krahe, 2016, 2018).…”

Pornography and Sexual Behavior: Do Sexual Attitudes Mediate or Confound?

“…As one example, although comparisons of viewers and nonviewers are common in pornography research (Bradley et al, 2016; Daneback et al, 2009; Emmers-Sommer, Hertlein, & Kennedy, 2013; Weaver et al, 2011), effect sizes may be enhanced if more nuance in viewing frequency is assessed. As another example, although reports of pornography viewing in the past 30 days or past year are common (Bradley et al, 2016; Braithwaite, Givens, Brown, & Fincham, 2015; Bridges et al, 2016; Carroll et al, 2008; Daneback et al, 2009; Poulsen, Busby, & Galovan, 2013), more chronologically encompassing consumption periods (e.g., from the onset of adolescence to the present—Stulhofer et al, 2012) may also increase variability in response and the magnitude of relations between variables. 7 As another example, consumption of specific genres of pornography could be measured.…”

“…Mahapatra and Saggurti (2014) controlled for sociodemographic (e.g., education, age) factors in their study of pornography use and extramarital sex but did not consider the potential confounding role of sexual attitudes. Bridges, Sun, Ezzell, and Johnson (2016) adjusted for gender, age, and religiosity in their study of pornography consumption and pornotypic behaviors (e.g., group sex, facial ejaculation) but did not include sexual attitudes as a covariate. Donevan and Mattebo (2017) compared engagement in sexual behaviors such as anal sex and one night stands across frequent, average, and infrequent pornography users but did not control for sexual attitudes.…”