Is Internet Pornography Use a Risk Factor for Sexual Aggression in Men?

The rise in internet pornography use has raised questions surrounding its influence on sexual behaviour (de Alarcón., et al 2019). Facilitated by its accessibility, exposure to pornographic material online is an omnipresent experience for both men and women (de Alarcón et al., 2019). Pornographic websites are among the most well trafficked websites in the world, with XVideos and Pornhub being the most popular (Mirzaei et al., 2021). In 2019, Pornhub reported 42 billion visits annually, making an average of 115 million visits per day (Pornhub, 2019). The proportion of individuals watching online pornography has significantly increased over the past two decades, especially amongst men. A 2005 survey revealed that 25% of men reported viewing internet pornography, whilst more recently in 2020, this percentage has increased to 91.5% (Mirzaei et al., 2021). Evidently pornography consumption is highly prevalent amongst society, with these numbers expected to continue to increase (Gola et al., 2017). Gender differences in prevalence rates of pornography consumption and patterns have also been explored. Compared to women, men have been shown to spend significantly more time per week watching pornography and were exposed to pornography at a significantly younger age (Hald, 2006). The effects online pornography has on individuals has been widely researched, with a growing consensus that pornography consumption contributes to dysfunctional behavioural patterns such as sexual aggression (Carrotte et al., 2020). Sexual aggression is defined as a person engaging in sexual behaviour with someone who does not consent to engage in that behaviour (Davis et al., 2014). The behaviour poses a significant burden on public health, with a reported 1.7 million women (18%) having experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 in Australia alone (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). The association between pornography consumption and sexual aggression has reported to be particularly pertinent in men and has shown to further influence one’s acceptability of men’s violence against women. With the growing concern this has on public health and welfare, understanding the association between pornography consumption and male sexual aggression can help to establish effective preventative strategies. The relevance of this review is to corroborate existing literature to further encourage the diminishing of this public health concern. Thus, this review will analyse previous literature that address or support the association between online pornography and increased sexual aggression in men. In doing so, it will also synthesise any shortfalls of previous literature and offer future directions to potentially mediate this public health concern.

Recurring Themes in Pornographic Videos

Despite variation amongst the thousands of pornographic films produced commercially, a commonality is that the male partner is typically the sexual subject, whilst females are portrayed as the sexual object for the male’s pleasure. Bridges et al., conducted a content analysis on a compilation list of 250 of the best-selling and most rented adult videos provided by Adult Video News (AVN) in 2010. The study aimed to provide updated analyses by permitting a wider generalisability and expanding the definition of what constitutes sexual aggression in pornography. In doing so, numerous variables were explored, including ejaculation position, and aggression (Bridges et al., 2010). Acts of aggression were recorded using the PAT technique, which involves the tallying of instances of aggression by counting each time the perpetrator, target, or aggressive act changes since the subsequent initial aggressive act (National Television Violence Study, 1998). The PAT technique has shown good reliability and validity. It requires trained coders to be monitored continuously on their ability to make reliable decisions, thus enhancing scientific rigor (National Television Violence Study, 1998). Responses of the targets and perpetrators were also recorded. The videos analysed in Bridges et al., study were significantly aggressive, with only 10.2% of scenes not containing an aggressive act. Targets were also shown to respond pleasurably or neutrally in 95.1% of sex acts, this potentially has significant implications in terms of the effects of pornography on consumers. Social Learning Theory suggests that whether aggression will be imitated, depends largely on if the aggressive act they observed is rewarded or punished (Bandura et al., 1963). With the significantly high percentage of pleasurable responses after aggressive behaviours, viewers may be vicariously reinforced into thinking that aggression during sex is pleasure enhancing for both the perpetrator and the victim, potentially causing significant social implications. Previous content analyses have often utilised a selection of violent and aggressive videos picked by the researchers as an antipornography effort. The study conducted by Bridges et al.,(2010) worked to improve sampling methodology by selecting the best-selling videos rather than those that are explicitly degrading and aggressive in nature. This provides a greater generalisability as it focuses on pornographic videos that are commonly consumed, rather than ones chosen for their content. However, the nature of the study makes establishing temporal precedence difficult. Pornography content may be partially responsible for instances of sexually aggressive behaviours, but plausible alternative explanations exist to explain instances of sexual aggression as well. Thus, a causal relationship may not be established.

Klassen and Peters (2015) conducted an additional content analysis on 400 of the most popular pornographic internet videos from the most trafficked pornographywebsites. The study aimed to provide insights into the representation of gender inequality in internet pornography. The study is believed to be the first large-scale content analysis on internet pornography that focuses entirely on the medium of video, prior studies mainly concerned still images or pornographic stories from the internet. The top 100 videos from four pornographic websites were analysed, resulting in a selection of 400 videos (Klassen & Peters, 2015). Unlike prior studies that focused on overly specific video samples, the current attempted to capture a variety of mainstream pornography, including both amateur and professional videos. Results concluded that women were more likely to be the recipients of violence, and to be involved in scenes depicting non-consensual sex (Klassen & Peters, 2015). This has been further supported by a study that found that 97% of the targets of violence and aggression in videos from Pornhub and XVideos were women (Fritz et al., 2020). Similarly, to Bridges et al., study, women were more likely to respond positively or neutrally to sex acts or were initially displeased and not interested in engaging, but eventually changed to express pleasure (Klassen & Peters, 2015). This again leads to several implications regarding the media effects. Watching videos that depict aggression and objectification against women, may increase or reinforce notions that women are instruments for male sexual pleasure (Klassen & Peters, 2015; Bandura et al., 1963). Consequentially eliciting dehumanising tendencies towards women, such as sexual aggression. Social scripts may also provide potential implications. Script acquisition theory argues that the more a person is exposed to a specific media script, the more likely the individual is to internalise and behave in accordance with said script (Wright, 2012). The contention is that social scripts in pornography, may influence viewers behaviours. With the high levels of violence depicted against women, and their positive reactions to these acts, it is a common assumption that these behaviours may become internalised by viewers and encourage aggression against women (DeKeseredy, 2020). Moreover, on the internet in general and the websites analysed, more diverse material can easily be accessed, therefore it cannot be precluded that gender inequality is represented in these. Thus, the current study provides an effective insight into the themes depicted in popular pornographic videos but fails to account for diversified samples.

Masculinity and its Correlation with Pornography Consumption

Masculinity has been hypothesised to consist of a myriad of salient features, usually including a lack of emotionality, independence from others, sexual prowess, and successfulness (Beasley, 2008). Adverse representations of masculinity in pornography have been identified as a contributing factor to sexual aggression amongst men, this is in accordance with the confluence model (de Heer et al., 2020). The confluence model of sexual aggression posits that a man’s likelihood of perpetrating sexual aggression is dependent on personality, behavioural and developmental factors (Malamuth et al., 1995). These include characteristics representative of hostile masculinity, such as hostility towards women, acceptance of rape myths, sexual dominance, and adversarial heterosexual beliefs (Huntington et al., 2020). The model has also identified relationships between increased pornography consumption, hostile masculinity, and sexual aggression (de Heer et al., 2020). The confluence model remains a thoroughly researched theoretical framework, that displays both validity and reliability when studying the relationship between hostile masculinity and sexual aggression (Abbey & Jacques-Tiura, 2011).

de Heer and colleagues (2020) conducted a study that sought to extend upon the framework of the confluence model, by measuring how masculinity is related to sexual aggression in a sample of 165 college men. The study involved the use of two scales, the Masculine Behaviour Scale (MBS) which measures stereotypical masculine behaviours, and the Gender Role Conflict Scale-Short Form (GRCS-SF), which measures the strain associated with feeling that one cannot meet the standard of their socialised gender roles. Both scales have confirmed factorial structure, reliability and have been psychometrically validated (Wester et al., 2012). Both masculinity and pornography consumption were independent variables, thus college men with higher levels in both were hypothesised to report perpetration and a greater likelihood of exhibiting sexual force (de Heer et al., 2020). The second most common type of preferred pornography amongst the sample was male dominant porn (n = 32.9%), this was correlated with a likelihood of exhibiting sexual force. All other correlations between types of pornography were not significantly related to increased likelihood of sexual force. Higher scores on the MBS and GRCS-SF were also significant predictors for increased perpetrating of sexual force (de Heer et al., 2020). The study suggests that college males who exhibit higher levels of masculinity and hold a preference for male-dominant porn potentially have a higher hypothetical likelihood of exhibiting sexual force. These findings are further supported by numerous studies that examined the associations between conformity to traditional masculine norms and pornography consumption, concluding that pornography is a unique predictor of men’s sexual objectification of women (Mikorski & Szymanski, 2017; Wright et al., 2016). Male-dominant porn is an adverse representation of masculinity in that it visualises the degradation and objectification of women, thus the two variables are interchangeable when predicting increased sexual force. With content analyses indicating a higher level of male-dominant porn on the internet (Klassen & Peters, 2015), the potential for individuals to exhibit sexual force and aggression is significant. The incorporation of pornography consumption and masculinity into discussions and preventative programs amongst university and college campuses should be pertinent. Male attendance at sexual assault prevention programs should also be emphasised to potentially mediate these relationships (de Heer et al., 2020).

Manifestations of Aggressive Ideologies.

With the previous studies having linked pornography consumption with an increased likelihood of perpetrating sexual aggression, specific manifestations of these associations have been examined. Teen Dating Violence(TDV) amongst high school students has shown to be positively correlated with exposure to violent pornography(Rostad et al., 2019). Violent pornography exposure was measured using the Social Norms Measure (SNM) (Gidycz et al., 2011). The scale assesses an individual’s consumption of violent sexually explicit media, participants indicated the number of times they had consumed sexual media depicting a female being forced to engage in sexual acts. Internal reliability was relatively low regarding this variable, partially due to restricted variability and/ or because adolescents may have only been exposed to pornography through one specific medium. With the proliferation of internet sources, this is a reasonable assertion (Rostad et al., 2019). Dating violence was measured using the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI), that assesses types of abuse perpetration and victimisation. Unlike the SNM, the CADRI has shown strong internal reliability and consistency across several studies (Wolfe et al., 2001). Female participants who had been exposed to violent pornography, were more likely to experience sexual TDV victimisation, whilst exposure to violent pornography was associated with a higher likelihood of perpetration of sexual TDV amongst male participants (Rostad et al., 2019). These results suggest that violent pornography consumption is associated with increased risk of perpetrating sexual violence amongst adolescents. Additionally, it indicates that pornography consumption and sexual violence is partially dependent on gender, potentially supporting studies that claim increased masculinity is positively correlated with a higher likelihood of perpetrating sexual force (Rostad et al., 2019; de Heer et al., 2020). The current study emphasises the concern that exposure to sexually explicit material with violent themes, may be internalised by viewers, especially those with limited sexual experience such as adolescents. This is consistent with theoretical frameworks such as, social learning theory, script acquisition and the confluence model that all posit that individuals acquire information about attitudes and behaviours through what is modelled to them (Bandura et al., 1963; Wright, 2014; Malamuth et al., 1995). In spite of this, the cross-sectional nature of the current study cannot be utilised to support the directionality of these frameworks. Additional longitudinal research is required to establish causality. School and community-based intervention programs should be implemented to teach adolescents healthy relationship skills, alternative to the violent behaviours they may be exposed to through pornographic material. With the proliferation of internet sources, and the accessibility of pornography, implications should be mediated through promoting realistic depictions of sex, healthy interpersonal skills, and the concept of consent amongst adolescents.

Pornography consumption has also been associated with exhibiting sexual objectification in terms of the dehumanisation of women (Zhou et al., 2021). A study conducted by Zhou et al., (2021) aimed to measure pornography use, dehumanisation, aggressive attitudes, and aggressive behaviours amongst a sample of 320 young adult males. Unlike prior studies, the current was conducted through a confidential online survey service, Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk). The interface is believed to allow researchers to recruit a more diverse population than non-representative samples. Participants who used more pornography, were more likely to perceive women as close-minded, irrational, and uncivilised. Male pornography users were found to more likely harbour aggressive attitudes against women, that are reflective of dehumanisation and objectification (Zhou et al., 2021). The consequence is an ideology in which women are denied their full agency. This again could be indicative of the influence of social-cognitive theoretical frameworks, in that a viewer’s dehumanising behaviours and attitudes are reinforced through watching the same behaviours being modelled in pornography (Bandura et al., 1963). The cross-sectional nature of the survey cannot explore the causal relationship between pornography use and dehumanisation. The link between the variables may be bidirectional, additional longitudinal studies may help establish causation. The self-report survey utilised in the current study may also not be the most appropriate or reliable method of exploring participants pornography consumption. Individuals may be unwilling to report details of their preferred pornography content, especially if it depicts aggressive and degrading behaviours. Thus, the results may not be reflective of participants genuine pornography consumption.

A longitudinal linkage

The formative years of adolescence are particularly pertinent to sexual development (Dawson et al., 2019). With the easy accessibility of internet pornography, pornography use is a ubiquitous experience for many adolescents. Relatively few studies had adopted a longitudinal design when analysing the relationship between pornography consumption and sexual aggression, partially due to the expense and time required to conduct such designs. The few studies that have adopted this approach, have provided robust insights into possible developmental aspects of the association (Dawson et al., 2019). A study on 594 Croatian male high students, was conducted over three years to establish a longitudinal association between pornography consumption and sexual aggression. Participants who reported substantial sexual aggressiveness were characterised by significantly higher initial levels of pornography consumption, whilst those with little to no sexual aggressiveness had lower levels (Dawson et al., 2019). This result is also supported by a similar longitudinal study that involved 1588 U.S children aged between 10-15 (Ybarra et al., 2011). Participants who reported exposure to pornographic material were 6.5 times more likely to report sexually aggressive behaviour over the three-year period of the study (Ybarra et al., 2011). Again, the results may rely on social-cognitive frameworks in that participants viewing pornography that portrays aggression as rewarding, may reinforce their own proclivity toward sexually aggressive behaviour (Ybarra et al., 2011). With the high number of pornographic videos that include women responding pleasurably to sexual aggression (Bridges et al., 2010), this assumption may be likely. These theoretical frameworks also acknowledge that adolescence is a particularly influential time for behavioural development, where younger individuals may be more susceptible to imitative behaviours and attitudes(Bandura et al., 1963). This suggests that participants in the previous mentioned studies are potentially more likely to demonstrate imitative behaviour, such as those displayed in pornographic videos. This explains the longitudinal linkage between pornography consumption and increased sexual aggression amongst adolescents.

This review aimed to examine the link between internet pornography consumption, and sexual aggression in men. It analysed previous literature that addressed or supported the association between these two variables and built upon these contentions to accumulate a valid collection of evidence that acknowledge this relationship. Methodological considerations of each study were explored to emphasise reliability and validity, future directions, and social implications of the association between these variables were also discussed. There is an extensive body of literature that supports the relationship between pornography consumption and increased sexual aggression amongst men. Pornography content and masculinity are believed to be confounding factors to increased manifestations of sexually aggressive behaviours, specifically violence amongst adolescents and dehumanisation towards women (Bridges et al., 2010; de Heer et al., 2020; Rostad et al., 2019; Zhou et al., 2021). Despite the extant empirical evidence that strengthen the existence of a relationship between pornography and sexual aggression, each study acknowledged apparent limitations. Hence, no obvious conclusion can be made about the relationship. Future research should utilise the limitations recognised in these studies and emphasise longitudinal designs to establish causation between variables. Additional preventative strategies, such as sexual assault prevention programs, should be implemented amongst community populations, with a priority towards male attendance.

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