Pornography and sexual aggression: Associations of violent and nonviolent depictions with rape and rape proclivity

Abstract

The current research on the relationship between pornography and sexual violence has produced mixed findings. Some studies show a connection between violent depictions and rape, while others examining nonviolent sexual material report inconsistent findings or no effects. This paper examines the potential connection between rape and rape proclivity and use of soft‐core pornography and three types of hard‐core pornography: nonviolent pornography, violent pornography, and rape pornography. Data collected from a sample of 515 college men indicated strong bivariate associations of rape and rape proclivity with use of almost all forms of pornography. Multivariate analysis indicated that the strongest correlates of sexual coercion and aggression, as well as rape proclivity, were exposure to hard‐core violent and rape pornography. Exposure to nonviolent hard‐core pornography displayed no association net of the other variables. Exposure to soft‐core pornography was positively associated with likelihood of sexual force and nonviolent coercive behavior, but negatively associated with likelihood of rape and actual rape behavior.

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