psychology of sexuality: pornography, social media and body image

golden age of pornography

• Started with the movie: deep throat → first movie with pornography

• Sex available in video stores

• Sex available on the internet

• Pornsites

triple A engine

• Accessible

  • Of all internet sites +/- 4% is porn

  • Of all web searches +/- 13% is porn

  • Of all internet traffic +/- is porn

• Affordable

• Anonymous

hard to define pornography

• Definition varies over time

• Definition varies between cultures

• Definition is subjective

  • In general, most people see depiction of coitus as porn, but 10 to 20 percent do not

  • Some people consider advertising bathing suits to be porn (especially people who are very religious)

pornography

any type of sexually explicit material that has the intent of producing arousal in those who consume it = hard-core = obscene

erotica

depictions of sex that evoke themes of mutual attraction and usually incorporate some emotional component in addition to the sex act itself = soft-core = artistic

defining pornography in research

• “sexually explicit films, video clips or pictures intended to sexually arouse the viewer; this can be seen on the internet, in a magazine, in a book or on television”

• “any sexually explicit material with the aim of sexual arousal”

who watches porn

• Did you watch porn in the last 6 months?

  • Men 71%

  • Women 29%

• Increasing number of girls watch pornography

• Boys watch porn more often

myths and misconceptions in pornography

• All men have massive penises

• Bigger penises bring women more pleasure

• All men are circumcised

• Men ejaculate huge amounts of semen

• All women have silicone breasts

• All women have a ‘porn pussy’

• Women always reach orgasm through penetration = coital imperative

• Lesbians also enjoy having sex with a man

• People can read minds

• Women moan, men don’t make a noise

• Sex ends with the male orgasm = male orgasm imperative

• All women wear high heels in bed

• Sex in porn often lacks intimacy and love

how do heterosexual people watch porn?

• Porn is usually a male fantasy

  • Female friendly porn = porn catered towards women

  • Ethical porn (equal pay, consent)

• Men first look at woman’s face and then at genitalia

• Women look much more at the female body than at the male body

• In women, there is a difference between objective arousal and subjective arousal

  • Objective arousal: physical symptoms

  • Subjective arousal: asked about the arousal

  • For men these forms of arousal run parallel.

  • Women are usually objectively aroused, but they don’t report that they are aroused

Negative attitude towards pornography

research on (the dangers of) pornography is difficult

• Hard to find a control group of people who don’t watch porn (but are similar to people who watch porn)

• Difficult to prove causal relationship (correlation is not necessarily causal)

• People have different definitions of porn

• How often, what kind, why, effect, partner

positive effects of pornography use

Porn viewers report:

• A more egalitarian attitude

• More pleasure in sex

• Increased self-acceptance

• Improved communication with sexual partners

findings in research on the dangers of pornography

• Brain damage – watching porn does not damage your brain

• Sexual violence – no correlations found (except for some people with anti-social characteristics)

• Addiction – compulsive porn watching is different from substance addiction

findings in research on the dangers of pornography for romantic relationships

• Mixed results, but small net negative influence on marriage or relationship

• Frequent pornography use was associated with greater preference for porn-like sex

effects of pornography use

Can porn have a potentially negative effect through observational learning? → probably yes

• Porn replaces sex education à porn is not the same as real sex

• Overestimation of sexual behavior in society

• Unrealistic image of sex:

  • Coital imperative

  • Male-orgasm imperative

• More negative body image

  • Social media

  • Instagram fit-girls and influencers

  • Imitating role models (like Kylie Jenner)

  • Vision of ‘perfection’

  • Photoshop

preventing negative effects

“The current study demonstrated that providing information about the unrealistic nature of media images may have immediate benefits for young girls”