Pornography And Rape

Question 1

Pornography overview: how much revenue and where?

Answer 1

• $96 billion +
• 28% China, 27% South Korea, 21% Japan, 14% USA
• 35% of all internet downloads

Question 2

What are the levels of sexual assault?

Answer 2

Level 1: Assault of a sexual nature
Level 2: With a weapon or causing/threatening bodily harm
Level 3: Sexual assault which wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of another person

Increased from 1986 to 1992, then declined from 1994 to 2016

Question 3

What is D’Amato’s main argument for increase in porn decreasing rates of sexual assault?

Answer 3

• 3/4 of the states with highest internet access show a decline in rape incidence
• all of the 4 states with lowest internet access show increase in rape incidence
• pornography provides an outlet for sexual fantasies that then do not need to be acted in real life

However, rape is still less common in states with lowest internet access compared to states with highest internet access

Question 4

What are D’Amato’s explanations for pornography reducing the incidence of rape?

Answer 4

• Some people watch porn to get it out of the their system (similar to catharsis)
  + But what if it simply normalizes behaviour? (Studies showing that catharsis for aggression not really a thing)
• Victorian effect: internet porn has de-mystified sex (what was once provocative has become mundane)
  + But could also just be easier to watch porn than be in places where rape is an option

Question 5

What are Darwin’s four main arguments that porn does not reduce the incidence of rape?

Answer 5

1) D’Amato’s 1980-2000 time frame includes irrelevant time with no internet access
2) States with least internet access are also the poorest and most rural which may explain differences
3) Rape rate correlates strongly with overall violent crime rate
4) Attempt to associate pornography increase with decrease in rape is self-justifying behaviour for something immoral

Question 6

What were the findings of associations between rape and pornography in 21 studies of justice-involved men (18+ with conviction of sexual offending; any type of sex crime):

Answer 6

1) men who sexually offended reported les exposure to pornography during pre and adolescent years compared to those who did not go on to offend
2) pornography use immediately prior to offending was negatively linked with seriousness of offences
3) pornography use had no significant impact on recidivism for low-risk offenders
4) Overall, results suggest a negative (or no) relationship between porn and sexually offending among those who have sexually offended

Exception: likelihood of sexual recidivism may be higher among high-risk offenders when deviant porn is viewed

Question 7

What are the associations between porn and sexual aggression in the general population based on individual-level data from 22 studies?

Answer 7

1) Positive association between pornography consumption and sexual aggression (r = .28)
2) Relationship did not differ based on: age, gender, pre/post internet, USA vs other countries
2) Consumption of violent porn more strongly linked to sexual aggression
3) Association more strongly predicted verbal sexual aggression than physical sexual aggression

Question 8

What were the findings of experimental research with 201 Danish young adult men and women who were shown either 30 min of porn or nature documentaries?

Answer 8

1) lower agreeableness and higher past porn use predicted greater acceptance of violence toward women
2) exposure to porn significantly increased acceptance of violence, but only among men low in agreeableness (porn may prime pre-existing sexually aggressive attitudes)

Question 9

What are some impacts of porn beyond sexual aggression? (Findings from survey of heterosexual collegiate women from intro psych class)

Answer 9

1) higher endorsement of rape myths
2) greater engagement in body monitoring
3) no differences in attitudes toward women

Question 10

What are some reasons that sexual assault is underreported (only 5% of sexual assaults experienced by Canadians 15 years and older in 2014 were reported to the police)?

Answer 10

1) 78% consider incident too minor
2) 58% felt police wouldn’t have thought it was important
3) 52% thought there was a lack of evidence
4) 43% feeling the incident was a private matter to be handled informally

Question 11

Describe the integrative model of pornography problems:

Answer 11

Pathway 1: Pornography problems due to dysregulation
Pathway 2: Pornography problems due to moral incongruence

Pornography consumption may cause distress for individuals under certain conditions: 1) when accompanied by personal characteristics (dysregulation, impulsivity) that promote excessive use (to a point that causes problems or interferes with other aspects of life), and/or 2: when accompanied by contradictory personal/moral/cultural values (moral incongruence -> cognitive dissonance)