The Influence of Sexually Explicit Material on Women’s Sexual Behavior and Attitudes

1. The Influence of Sexually Explicit Material on Women’s Sexual Behavior and Attitudes Shanna Sutherland

2. Pornography Use • The USA is the world’s leading producer (73%) of online pornography (MacKay, 2001). • Sexual representation, products and services are becoming more accessible to a wider group of consumers (Attwood, 2006).

4. Feminist Theories • Anti-pornography • Pornography reduces women to sexual objects to be consumed by men (MacKinnon, 1987). • Men can be degraded through instrumental sexual use by women as well (Kant,1993). • Pro-sex • Women take control of their sexuality when they engage with SEM. • Enjoying pornography is a form of resistance to a culture that allows no sexual pleasure for women at all (Philipson, 1984).

5. SEM Use & Objectification • Sexual desire produced by pornography frequently leads to the objectification of others (Shrage, 2005). • One consequence for women of being viewed as sexual objects is that women start to treat themselves as objects (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998). • Noll and Fredrickson (1998) define self-objectification as valuing one’s body from a third person perspective where one focuses on observable body attributes (e.g., How do I look?) rather than from a first person perspective where one focuses on non-observable body attributes (e.g., What am I capable of? How do I feel?).

6. SEM Use & Sexual Behaviors • Individuals who consume high levels of pornography tend to be more sexually active and report a higher frequency of masturbation (Hald & Malamuth, 2008).

7. Research Question • Will exposure to sexually explicit material be correlated with women’s sexual attitudes and behaviors?

8. Hypothesis • Exposure to sexually explicit materials will be correlated with greater self-objectification and greater objectification of sexual partners. • Exposure to sexually explicit materials will be correlated with greater engagement in a variety of sexual behaviors.

9. Participants • 23 people excluded, leaving 169 total participants • Females ranging in age from 18 to 57 with a mean of 23.24 • 82.8% Caucasian, 7.7% African American, 3% Hispanic, 1.2% Asian, 5.3% Other • 46.6% Single, 36.9% In a Relationship, 15.3% Married, 1.2% Divorced • 6.5% High School or Less, 64% Some College, 8.9% Associate’s, 11.2% Bachelor’s, 9.4% Higher Education

10. Materials • An online survey that measured • Demographics • Types and Frequency of SEM • Self-Objectification • Sexual Partner-Objectification • Sexual Behaviors

11. Frequency of SEM • Please indicate the frequency with which you have read Cosmopolitan in the previous year • Not at all • 1 to 3 times • 4 to 6 times • 6 to 12 times • 2 to 3 times a month • About once a week • Twice or more times a week • (Lawrence & Herold, 1988)

12. Self Objectification • Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998) • 5 Appearance-based items: Weight is important to my concept of self • 5 Competence items: Health is important to my concept of self? • Participants rate each item on a 5 point Likert scale • Scale was scored by subtracting the mean of the competence-based items from the mean of the appearance-based items; higher scores indicate more self-objectification

13. Partner Objectification • Revised Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998) • 5 Appearance-based items: Weight is an attribute that I look for in a sexual partner • 5 Competence items: Health is an attribute that I look for in a sexual partner

14. Sexual Behaviors • Rouse-Pattison Sexual Behavior Scale (2004) • Please indicate how many times in the previous year you have had vaginal intercourse. • Not at all • 1 to 3 times • 4 to 6 times • 6 to 12 times • 2 to 3 times a month • About once a week • Twice or more times a week • Once or more a day

15. Frequency of SEM • The mean of the participants looking at sexually explicit material in the previous year was, m = 1.52, this mean correlates with the answers 1 to 3 times a year and 3 to 6 times a year. • Therefore, it can be concluded that participants in this study view or read a variety of sexually explicit material between 1 and 6 times a year.

16. SEM Use & Self Objectification • Self Objectification scale was reliable • appearance items, alpha = .82 • competence items, alpha = .79 • There was a marginally positive correlation between SEM use and self objectification, r = .14, p = .08. This correlation indicates that the more SEM the women view/read the more likely they are to self-objectify.

17. SEM Use & Sexual Partner Objectification • Partner Objectification scale was reliable • appearance items, alpha = .80 • competence items, alpha = .83 • There was a marginally positive correlation between SEM use and objectification of sexual partners, r = .14, p = .08 This correlation indicates that the more SEM the women view/read the more likely they are to objectify their sexual partners.

18. SEM Use & Sexual Behaviors • The Sexual Behavior scale was reliable • alpha = .93 • There was a significant positive correlation between SEM use and sexual behaviors, r = .31, p < .001. This correlation indicates that the more SEM the women view/read the more likely they are to engage in sexual behaviors of various kinds.

19. Discussion • The results suggest that SEM use is associated with greater sexual activity. Also, the results show a trend indicating that the more frequently women use SEM the more likely they are to self-objectify and view their partners in objectified ways. • The objectification results help support the Anti-Pornography feminist theory and suggest that pornography can be associated with negative sexual attitudes for both men and women.

20. Future Research • Examine the consequences of self-objectification and making the other an object. • Examine the consequences of SEM use on other sexual attitudes (e.g., relationship satisfaction).

21. Questions?