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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2025 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Sex Educ. 2023 Jul 26;19(3):280–301. doi: 10.1080/15546128.2023.2233414

Pornography Use, Perceived Peer Norms, and Attitudes Toward Women: A Study of College Men

Prachi H Bhuptani 1,3, Shannon R Kenney 2,3, Lucy E Napper 4, Lindsay M Orchowski 1,3
PMCID: PMC11335322  NIHMSID: NIHMS1920248  PMID: 39171277

Abstract

Men’s negative attitudes toward women is a known risk factor for sexual aggression perpetration. Sexual aggression is a widespread public health concern, especially among emerging adults, and is associated with a multitude of negative consequences. The current study evaluated whether pornography-related perceived peer norms, own approval, and self-reported use are associated with negative attitudes towards women in a sample of college men. Types of pornography examined included: pornography (in general), pornography that included portrayals of bondage, whipping, and spanking but without explicit dissent (i.e., pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression), as well as pornography consisting of sexually explicit rape depictions in which force is used. Self-report measures assessing the frequency of pornography exposure, self-acceptance of pornography use, and perceived peer norms were collected from 283 college men. A multiple linear regression model revealed that only perceived peer norms for acceptance of pornography that depicted rape was positively associated with negative attitudes toward women. Findings highlight the importance of better understanding and addressing perceived peer norms in sexual assault prevention programs for college men.

Keywords: pornography, injunctive norms, negative attitudes toward women, rape depictions

Sexual aggression includes unwanted sexual contact, sexual harassment, sexual coercion, attempted rape, or completed rape (Basile et al., 2014; Fitzgerald et al., 2001), and is a widespread problem among emerging adults (Anderson et al., 2021; Eaton et al., 2008; Straus, 2004). Although anyone can experience or perpetrate sexual aggression, college women who experience sexual assault most commonly identify that the perpetrator of sexual aggression was a man (Department of Justice, 2014; Zawacki et al., 2003). Approximately 10–29% of men perpetrate sexual aggression while in college (Abbey & McAuslan, 2004; Anderson et al., 2021; Hines & Saudino, 2003; White & Smith, 2004). Given the numerous negative psychological, academic, and relational consequences associated with sexual victimization (Edwards et al., 2011; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006), continued research is needed to identify the factors that increase men’s likelihood for perpetrating sexual aggression against women.

Numerous studies have identified risk and protective factors for sexual aggression (see Tharp et al., 2013 for a review). There are also several etiological models of sexual aggression – such as the Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression (Malamuth, 1986; Malamuth et al., 1995; 2021) and the Integrated Model of Sexual Assault (for review see Orchowski & Berkowitz, 2022) – which highlight how various risk factors work together to increase perpetration risk under various environmental conditions. Both the Confluence Model and the Integrated Model of Sexual Aggression highlight negative attitudes toward women as a significant correlate of sexual aggression (i.e., Malamuth et al., 1995). In fact, Tharp et al’s (2013) systematic review of the literature found that increased negative attitudes towards women were associated with men’s greater risk for perpetration of sexual aggression in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Because attitudes linked to the perpetration of sexual aggression are established as young adults begin dating and engaging in sexual activity (Marston & King, 2006), studies that examine factors associated with negative attitudes towards women among college men are critical to understanding the context of sexual aggression.

Etiological models of sexual aggression also highlight how men’s socialization experiences contribute to the development of sexual aggression (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Huntington et al., 2022; Malamuth et al., 2012; Orchowski & Berkowitz, 2022). For example, exposure to pornography is consistently linked to sexual aggression (Tharp et al., 2013) and is a widespread behavior among college men. Cross-sectional studies on college men demonstrate that 13% of college men report viewing pornography on a daily basis (Simons et al., 2012), 48% - 64% report viewing pornography on a weekly basis (Carroll et al., 2008; Leahy, 2009; Sabina, et al., 2008), and more than 80% view pornography at least once a year (Foubert et al., 2011). Notably, a content analysis of mainstream pornography showed that 88% of scenes included various acts of physical aggression against women, such as spanking, choking, bondage, and slapping (Bridges, et al., 2010; Foubert et al., 2011). Further, upwards of 25% of the content in pornographic magazines depicts sexual aggression, including rape (Barron & Kimmel, 2000). Given the widespread use of porn and prevalence of physical and sexual aggression against women in porn, it is important to understand the impact of porn on attitudes and behaviors of individuals who consume it. Such understanding would assist sex educators in designing programs that aim to increase awareness of potential harm associated with certain types of porn exposure.

Cross-sectional studies on adolescent samples suggest that pornography normalizes sexual aggression against women and contributes to men’s perpetration of rape (e.g., Rostad et al., 2019). The 3AM theoretical model explains how viewing pornography influences perpetration of sexual aggression (Wright, 2011, 2014). According to the model, when men view pornography, they learn novel sexual scripts [sexual script acquisition], are primed to access already acquired sexual scripts [sexual script activation], and are more likely to use these sexual scripts to guide their own judgments and behaviors [sexual script application] during sexual activity (Wright, 2011, 2014). These acquired, applied, and activated sexual scripts guide sexual behavior and influence what types of sexual activities one engages in, with whom, when, how, under what circumstances, and to what consequence (Gagnon & Simon, 2017). Consistent with this model, cross-sectional studies demonstrate that increased viewing of pornographic material is associated with greater use of sexual coercion by adolescent males (Simons et al., 2012), and greater use of sexual force and sexual harassment perpetration among adolescent males and females (Bonino et al., 2006). Further, cross-sectional studies among college men consistently find that greater exposure to sexually violent media is associated with greater use of coercion and rape (Demaré, et al., 1993) or the likelihood of perpetrating sexual aggression (Demaré, et al., 1988). One way porn may promote sexual aggression is by influencing negative attitudes towards women. Indeed, one longitudinal study among adolescent males found that porn predicted negative attitudes towards women and perpetration of sexual aggression over time (e.g., Brown & Engle, 2009).

Pornographic materials often promote gendered roles that degrade women. Indeed, content analysis of pornographic videos and websites demonstrate that gendered scripts remain common in pornography (e.g., women are depicted subservient to men, women are exploited by men) and are portrayed as resulting in both male and female gratification (Arakawa et al. 2012; Bridges et al. 2010; Heider & Harp 2002; Sun et al. 2008). Further, longitudinal studies among adolescents (Brown & Engle, 2009) and college samples (Linz et al., 1988; Malamuth & Ceniti, 1986; Malamuth & Check, 1981, 1985) and cross-sectional studies among college men (e.g., Garcia, 1986; Zillmann & Bryant, 1982, 1988) have noted that greater exposure to pornography, including violent pornography, is associated with increased negative attitudes towards women, such as greater gender role inequality and increased acceptance of aggression against women. For instance, in an experimental cross-sectional study among Danish young adults, Hald and colleagues (2013) found that men who consumed more pornography reported more sex-role traditionalism and hostile sexism. Cross-sectional studies among Danish young adults (Hald & Malamuth, 2015) and adolescents in the United States (Malamuth et al., 2012) show that increased pornography exposure is also associated with greater acceptance of aggression against women.

However, the positive relationship between exposure to pornography and negative attitudes towards women appears to be complex. For example, some cross-sectional work suggests that increased pornography exposure is not associated with any type of attitudes toward women in college and community samples (e.g., Barak et al., 1999; McKee, 2007; Padgett et al., 1989). One cross-sectional study in a nationally representative community sample found that increased porn exposure was associated with more egalitarian attitudes towards women (Kohut et al., 2016), opposite of other study findings (e.g., Malamuth et al., 2012). These inconsistent findings may be due in part to how pornography exposure and attitudes toward women are assessed and the types of samples examined (Garos et al., 2004; Kohut et al., 2016). Indeed, there is immense variability in how porn exposure and attitudes towards women are measured across studies, a significant concern cited by previous researchers (e.g., Garos et al., 2004; Fisher & Kohut, 2020; Miller & Miller, 2019). Findings also point to the need to explore how other factors – beyond exposure to pornography alone – influence the development of negative attitudes towards women. The 3AM model, for instance, indicates that numerous factors such as perceived peer exposure to porn, level of self-acceptance of porn, and level of peer acceptance of porn serve to increase or decrease sexual script acquisition, activation, and application and thus influence the impact of porn on attitudes towards women (Wright, 2011). Problematically, research to date has yet to investigate the role of perceived peer norms and self-approval of pornography as correlates of negative attitudes toward women. Further, studies examining the association between exposure to pornography and negative attitudes towards women cover a wide range of time (1981–2016) and a significant portion of this research was conducted in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Thus, the current study served two purposes: address the gap in the literature by examining perceived peer norms and self-approval of pornography as correlates of negative attitudes towards women as well as conduct an updated examination of the association between porn exposure and attitudes towards women.

There is a strong rationale for examining perceived peer norms as correlates of attitudes towards women. Empirical evidence both highlights that people’s perceptions of peers’ attitudes and behaviors influence their own attitudes and behaviors (for review and meta-analysis see Borsari & Carey, 2003; Rivis & Sheeran, 2003; Chung & Rimal, 2016). Along this vein, theoretical models such as Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986), Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980), and developmental neuroscience theories (Telzer et al., 2018) highlight that peers are particularly salient to adolescents and college undergraduates, and perception of peer attitudes and behaviors impact an individual’s behavior and attitudes. For example, a meta-analysis found that peer acceptance of sexual behaviors and perception of peer’s sexual behavior predicted individual’s own sexual activity (Van de Bongardt et al., 2015). Cross-sectional research examining adolescents also found that greater peer acceptance of sexual aggression is associated with greater risk of perpetrating sexual aggression (Huntington et al., 2022). It is possible that perceiving that one’s peers use and approve of watching pornography may lead men to believe their peers also tolerate or even accept the negative gender roles often presented in pornography (e.g., women as low-status, submissive or subordinate to men; Wright & Bae, 2015). Believing that peers, an important and valued social group, are accepting of these types of gender role beliefs may have an even greater impact on men’s own attitudes toward women than exposure to pornographic material that conveys messages of male dominance. To our knowledge, no study to date has investigated the impact of perceived peer exposure and acceptance of porn on negative attitudes towards women.

Self-acceptance of pornography use is also likely to impact one’s attitudes towards women. In a society where pornographic materials are readily accessible and utilized, cross-sectional studies show one’s acceptance of viewing pornography is likely to be related to their engagement and reaction to porn (Willoughby et al., 2014), as well as their sexual attitudes more broadly (Nelson et al., 2010; Štulhofer et al., 2010). Given that exposure to sexually violent pornography is associated with greater use of coercion and rape in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (Demaré et al., 1993; Brown & Engle, 2009) and more traditional views of women and more pro-rape attitudes (Garcia, 1986), one may expect a similar pattern of findings such that greater levels of personal acceptance of sexually violent pornography will be associated with more negative attitudes towards women.

Present Study

The current study adds to the literature by examining whether pornography-related perceived peer norms, self-acceptance, and self-reported use are associated with negative attitudes towards women in a sample of college men. Types of pornography examined included pornography (in general), pornography that included portrayals of bondage, whipping and spanking but without explicit dissent (i.e., pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression), as well as pornography consisting of sexually explicit rape depictions in which force is used. We hypothesized that greater personal exposure and approval of pornography, along with higher levels of perceived peer exposure and acceptance would be associated with greater negative attitudes towards women. Further, based on past research (Garcia, 1986), we proposed that measures involving more violent forms of pornography (i.e., those depicting bondage, choking, rape) would be more strongly associated with negative attitudes towards women than nonviolent pornography.

Method

Participants and Procedures

Participants were 283 undergraduate men recruited from two east coast universities in the United States. Participants were recruited via email from random sample of male and female students (N = 1,900) which was stratified by class year and gender. A total of 603 participants consented to participate in the study. Of the total sample, 51.2% identified as female (n = 309), 0.3% identified as transgender (n = 2), 1.5% did not report their gender (n = 9), and 46.9% identified as male (n = 283). Participants who provided consent via the online form were directed to an online survey. Data were collected as a part of a larger study examining the prevention of sexual assault, alcohol use, and sexual risk behavior among college students (Neely et al., 2020). Only data from men (n = 283) are included in the current analysis. Participants were provided with a $15 gift card as compensation. The sample ranged in age from 18 to 25 years (M = 19.86 years, SD = 1.30). Participants predominantly identified as White (62.9%), with 20.1% identifying as Asian, 11.3% as multiracial/other, 4.9% and as African American or Black. In addition, 8.5% of participants identified as Hispanic/Latino(a). A small proportion of the participants were a member of the fraternity (18.7%) or a member of the intercollegiate team (15.9%).

Measures

Dependent Variable

Negative Attitudes Towards Women.

The 8-item anti-feminine attitude subscale of the Auburn Differential Masculinity Index (α = .82; Burt et al., 2004) was used to assess endorsement of negative attitudes toward women. Examples of items on the scale include: “I know feminist want to be like men because men are better than women,” “I consider men superior to women in intellect,” “Women, generally, are not as smart as men,” and “I think women who are too independent need to be knocked down a peg or two.” Participants responded to each item on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “1” = “strongly disagree” to “5” = “strongly agree.” Mean scores were obtained and higher means indicated higher levels of negative attitudes towards women.

Independent Variables

Frequency of Personal Pornography Exposure.

Three questions assessed frequency of exposure to various types of pornography (Carroll et al., 2008; Morgan, 2011). To assess exposure to pornography in general, participants were asked “How often do you view pornography.” To assess exposure to more specific types of pornography that included portrayals of physical or sexual aggression, participants were asked: “How often do you view pornography consisting of sexual portrayals of bondage, whipping and spanking but without explicit dissent (i.e., explicit opposition)?” and “How often do you view pornography consisting of sexually explicit rape depictions in which force is used?” Participants responded on a 10-point ranging from “1” = “Never, to “10” = “More than once a day.”

Frequency of Perceived Peer Pornography Exposure.

One question assessed perceived peer pornography exposure. Participants were asked “How often do you think the typical male student at your school views pornography?” and responded on a on a 10-point Likert scale ranging from “1” = “Never” to “10” = “More than once a day”.

Self-acceptance of Pornography Use.

Three questions assessed for self-acceptance of various types of pornography. Questions aligned with the types of personal pornography use assessed (i.e., general pornography use, pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression, pornography use that depicted rape). Specifically, participants were asked “Do you think it is acceptable to view the following forms of pornography: graphic sex acts (including penetration), sexual portrayals of bondage, whipping and spanking but without explicit dissent (i.e., explicit opposition), and sexually explicit rape depictions in which force is used?” For each type of porn, participants responded with either “Yes” (coded as “1”) or “No” (coded as “0’).

Perceived Peer Acceptance of Pornography.

Three questions assessed for perceived peer-acceptance of various types of pornography. Questions aligned with the types of pornography use assessed, as well as self-acceptance of pornography (i.e., general sexually explicit pornography, pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression, pornography use that depicted rape). Participants were asked “What percent of men at your school think that it is acceptable to view the following forms of pornography: graphic sex acts (including penetration), sexual portrayals of bondage, whipping and spanking but without explicit dissent (i.e., explicit opposition), and sexually explicit rape depictions in which force is used?” Participants responded on a scale of 0% to 100%.

Control Variables

Age.

Participants were asked “How old are you?” and choose their age from a dropdown box.

Race.

Participants were asked to choose which of the following race options best describes them and shown the following options: Caucasian/White, Asian, African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial, and Other.

Ethnicity.

Participants were asked to choose their ethnicity and shown the following options: Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino(a), Hispanic/Latino(a).

Intercollegiate Athlete Status.

Participants were asked “Are you currently a member of the intercollegiate athlete team?” and asked to choose “Yes” or “No.”

Fraternity Membership Status.

Participants were asked “Are you currently a member of a fraternity/sorority?” and asked to choose “Yes” or “No.”

Data Analysis Plan

All analyses were conducted using SPSS v.8. Univariate associations among study variables were examined via bivariate correlations. A multiple regression model was used to examine pornography-related correlates of negative attitudes towards women. Exposure to pornography, perceived peer exposure to pornography, self-acceptance of pornography, and perceived peer acceptance of pornography were entered as the independent variables and negative attitudes towards women was entered as the dependent variable. Age, ethnicity (Lantino/a = 1, non-Latino/a = 0), fraternity membership (Greek = 1, non-Greek = 0), race (White = 0; Non-white = 1), and intercollegiate athletic status (athlete = 1, non-athlete = 0) were entered as control variables.

Results

Descriptive Statistics and Bivariate Correlations

Descriptive statistics for the core study variables are presented in Table 1. Table 2 presents the bivariate correlations between study variables. Most participants reported watching pornography 1–2 times a week (25.9%), 3–6 times a week (25.5%) or 2–3 times a month (14.7%). However, most participants indicated never watching porn containing bondage, whipping, or spanking (67.1%) or porn containing depictions of rape (82.9%). Participants estimated that their peers watch porn 1–2 times a week (39.2%), 3–6 times a week (31.9%) or 2–3 times a month (10.8%). Of note, 83% of the participants reported they approved of watching pornography in general, and participants estimated that, on average, 81% of their peers approved of watching pornography in general. Similarly, 54% of the participants endorsed approval of watching pornography that depicted bondage and participants estimated that, on average, 51% of their peers approved of watching pornography that depicted bondage. Whereas 21% of the participants reported they approved of watching pornography that depicted rape, participants reported that, on average, 23% of their peers approved of watching pornography that depicted rape. The frequency of porn exposure varied considerably across porn types. On average, participants report watching general porn 2–3 times a month, pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression once a year, and pornography that depicted rape almost never.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics of Study Variables

Variable M (SD) Frequency (Yes/%)
1. Negative Attitudes Towards Women 1.44 (.63)
2. Use of Pornography (General) 6.42 (2.16)
3. Use of Pornography depicting Bondage 2.13 (1.96)
4. Use of Pornography depicting Rape 1.46 (1.22)
5. Perceived Peer Exposure to Pornography 7.17 (1.42)
6. Self-acceptance of Pornography (General) 236 (83.4%)
7. Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting Bondage 153 (54.1%)
8. Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape 60 (21.2%)
9. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography (General) 81.61 (22.19)
10. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography depicting Bondage 51.27 (29.05)
11. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape 23.46 (24.18)
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Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics and Bivariate Correlations

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Negative Attitudes Towards Women -
2. Use of Pornography (General) .10
3. Use of Pornography depicting Bondage .15* .24***
4. Use of Pornography depicting Rape .11 .20*** .52***
5. Perceived Peer Exposure to Pornography .12 .46** 0.40 .03
6. Self-acceptance of Pornography (General) −.03 .42*** .11 .08 .13*
7. Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting Bondage −.09 .33*** .33*** .21*** .14* .34***
8. Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape .13* .18*** .17** .31*** .11 .17** .42***
9. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography (General) −.03 .34*** −.09 .02 .31*** .50*** .27*** .10
10. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography depictive Bondage .00 .20*** .23*** .14* .20** .20** .62*** .27*** .46***
11. Perceived Peer-acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape .20** .002 .16* .16* .12 −.01 .26*** .47*** .21*** .60***
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Note.

*

p < .05

**

p < .01, and

***

p < .001.

Bivariate correlations revealed that greater negative attitudes towards women were positively associated with greater exposure to pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression, greater self-acceptance of watching pornography that depicted rape, and greater perceived peer acceptance of watching pornography that depicted rape. Greater exposure to pornography in general was associated with greater perceived peer exposure to pornography. Greater exposure to all three kinds of pornography was positively correlated with greater self-acceptance of that respective kind of pornography. Additionally, greater exposure to all three kinds of pornography was positively correlated with greater peer acceptance of pornography and pornography that depicted bondage/physical aggression (but not pornography that depicted rape). There were positive associations between self-acceptance and perceived peer acceptance of most types of pornography. Notably, self-acceptance of porn in general was not related to perceived peer acceptance of pornography that depicted rape.

Multivariate Analysis

Multiple regression was used to examine whether exposure to pornography, perceived peer exposure to pornography, self-acceptance of pornography, and perceived peer acceptance of pornography predicted negative attitudes towards women (see Table 3). Prior to conducting the analysis, we checked for assumptions of multiple regression (e.g., normality of residuals, lack of multicollinearity, and homoscedasticity). Normality of residuals was confirmed visually via a normal probability plot of standardized residuals, which showed points close to the line indicating normally distributed residuals. The VIF values for all variables ranged from 1.51 – 3.32. While a scatterplot of residuals versus fit suggested heteroscedasticity, we proceeded with multiple regression as this was the only assumption that was violated (Astivia & Zumbo, 2019; Cribari & Neto, 2004). Given the evidence of possible heteroskedasticity, the analyses were also run using heteroskedasticity-consistent standard errors (Hayes, 2003).

Table 3.

Linear Regression Predicting Negative Attitudes Towards Women

Variable Β (SE)
Exposure to Pornography (General) .04 (.03)
Exposure to Pornography depicting Bondage, Whipping, or Spanking .05 (.03)
Exposure to Pornography depicting Rape .007 (.04)
Perceived Peer Exposure to Pornography .04 (.04)
Self-acceptance of Pornography (General) −.09 (.21)
Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting with Bondage, Whipping, or Spanking −.23 (.13)
Self-acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape .11 (.13)
Perceived Peer Acceptance of Pornography (General) −.002 (.003)
Perceived Peer Acceptance of Pornography depicting Bondage −.002 (.003)
Perceived Peer Acceptance of Pornography depicting Rape .01 (.003) **
Age −.04 (.03)
Ethnicity .01 (.16)
Race −.01 (.03)
Intercollegiate Athlete Status .10 (.03)
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Note.

**

p < .01. The dependent variable is Negative Attitudes towards Women.

Unstandardized betas and standard errors are reported.

The overall model was significant, F (10, 213) = 3.02, p = .001, R2 = .13. Results showed that in the presence of other variables, only perceived peer acceptance of pornography that depicted rape was positively associated with negative attitudes towards women, β = .01, S.E. = .003, p = .02. After controlling for other variables, exposure to any type of pornography, perceived peer exposure to pornography, self-acceptance of any type of pornography, and perceived peer acceptance of general pornography and pornography depicting bondage were not associated with negative attitudes towards women. Demographic variables (age, ethnicity, race, fraternity membership, and intercollegiate athletic status) were also not associated with negative attitudes towards women. Given the evidence of possible heteroskedasticity, the analyses were also run using heteroskedasticity-consistent standard errors (Hayes, 2003). Using the approach the results remain unchanged, with peer acceptance of rape porn emerging as the sole significant predictor of negative attitudes towards women

Discussion

Burgeoning research has documented the negative impact of porn viewing on sexual health [e.g., initiation of sexual behaviors at younger age (Brown & Engle, 2009; Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2013)], sexual behavior [e.g., engaging in unprotected sex (Harkness et al., 2015)] and mental health [e.g., depression (Nelson et al., 2010; Owens et al., 2012)]. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the associations among men’s personal pornography exposure and attitudes, perceptions of peers’ pornography exposure and attitudes, and negative attitudes towards women, which is a robust predictor of men’s propensity to perpetrate sexual aggression against women (Abbey & Jacques-Tiura, 2011; Adiningsih et al., 2020; Malamuth et al., 1995; Pease & Flood, 2008). Over half of men in this sample viewed pornography at least weekly, and, in all, 81% found viewing pornography acceptable. Although existing research has tied pornography viewing to attitudes toward sexual aggression (Bonino et al., 2006; Simons et al., 2012) and women (e.g., Brown & Engle, 2009), the current study adds to the literature by examining perceived peer acceptance of pornography and self-acceptance of pornography as correlates of negative attitudes towards women. Contrary to our prediction that higher levels of exposure to all forms of pornography would be associated with higher levels of negative attitudes towards women, bivariate correlations showed that general pornography, despite often depicting aggression toward women (Bridges et al. 2010), was not associated with men’s attitudes towards women. Instead, the only form of pornography use that showed a significant bivariate correlation with negative attitudes towards women was men’s frequency of exposure to pornography that contained depictions of bondage/aggression. These findings highlight that not all pornography is associated with negative outcomes among viewers. Rather, porn involving depictions of rape may be a particularly salient correlate of negative attitudes towards women. Finding may reflect the misogyny embedded in violent forms of pornography and its possible contributions towards the development of attitudes towards women. It is also possible that men that hold more negative attitudes toward women are more likely to seek out pornography that depicts women as submissive.

As predicted, both personal and peer acceptance of pornography depicting rape were associated with more negative attitudes towards women in bivariate analyses. These findings are consistent with past research showing that exposure to violent pornography, including depictions of rape, is associated with traditional views of women, self-reported likelihood to rape, engagement in sexual coercion and rape, whereas exposure to nonviolent pornography was not (Boeringer, 1994; Demare et al. 1993; Garcia, 1984). Surprisingly however, exposure to pornography depicting rape was not bivariately associated with attitudes toward women. It is possible that this finding, in part, reflects relatively infrequent use of this type of pornography. Specifically, only 17% of men reported ever watching pornography that depicted rape. These findings inform past experimental and correlational studies that have produced mixed results regarding the relationship between pornography exposure and attitudes toward women (Brown & Engle, 2009) by suggesting that future research account for pornography attitudes and specify the type of pornographic media utilized.

Multivariate regression results showed that after controlling for other study variables, only perceived peer acceptance of pornography that depicted rape with significantly associated with negative attitudes towards women. Despite being significantly correlated at bivariate levels, other factors (such as exposure to all types of porn, perceived peer exposure to porn, self-acceptance of all types of porn, and perceived peer acceptance of porn in general as well porn depicting bondage) were not associated with negative attitudes towards women when controlling for all study variables. Not only is this the first study to document the associations between perceived peer pornography norms and negative attitudes towards women, but findings suggest that perceived peer norms related to rape porn may be salient. It is possible that when men perceive that their friends approve of this type of violent pornography, they infer that their peers may tolerate or accept of a range of negative views of women. Further, college men’s views toward rape pornography appears to be qualitatively different from other forms of pornography—most participants viewed this form of pornography as unacceptable; therefore, those perceiving that peers accept rape porn may constitute a unique subgroup of college men. Whereas social norms theories posit that perceived norms are associated with personal attitudes (Berkowitz et al., 2022; Chang & Rimal, 2016), future longitudinal research could help clarify the directionality of the observed relationship. Unlike perceived peer approval, perceived peer exposure to pornography was not related to attitudes toward women. Although speculating, this finding may, in part, be because the measure of perceived exposure utilized in the present study did not differentiate violent and non-violent forms of pornography. Future studies should examine whether perceived peer use of pornography depicting rape is associated with attitudes toward women.

Participants’ perceptions of their peer’s acceptance of pornography were similar to their own levels of acceptance. For example, participants perceived that 23% of college men were accepting of pornography depicting rape compared to 21% of the sample reporting that this form of pornography was acceptable. The consistency between personal and perceived peer acceptance of each form of pornography is surprising, given students tend to overestimate the extent to which their peers engage in a multitude of problem behaviors, such as substance use, smoking, and risky as well as coercive sexual activity (Cox et al., 2019; Kenney et al., 2019; Kilmartin et al., 2015; Morris et al., 2020; Testa et al., 2020). Social norms models (Miller & Prentice, 1996; Perkins, 2002, 2014) suggest that several factors increase the likelihood of normative misperceptions, including observing others engaging in the behavior (and ease of recall of these behaviors), the salience of conversations about a behavior among peers, and exposure to media depictions normalizing a behavior (Napper, 2018). It is possible that, despite the widespread availability and accessibility of porn among young men, usage often occurs in private, unobserved settings and is not discussed in the same way as other overestimated behaviors that are more public or involve more active peer engagement. Further research exploring the context of men’s use of pornography and how it is shared and discussed among peers may help determine predictors of normative perceptions.

Specific implications for sex educators and other professionals in the field of sex education can be derived from study findings. Given the high prevalence of porn exposure and high levels of acceptability of watching porn in our sample, our study results contribute to existing findings that porn viewing is common and porn literacy needs to be included in sex education (Philpott et al., 2017). Porn literacy promotes ability to critically think, evaluate, and analyze the pornographic material consumed (Dawson et al., 2020) and nascent research has begun developing different models of porn literacy (Dawson et al., 2020; Rothman et al., 2020). Following these models (Dawson et al., 2020; Rothman et al., 2020), sex educators can promote discussions on the history of pornography, the gendered double standards depicted in pornography, along with what healthy relationships look like. Along this vein, sex educators should consider challenging the potentially negative sexual scripts promoted by certain types of porn (e.g., depictions involving rape). Developing a critical understanding of the relationships between gender, power, and violence is essential given the prevalence of gendered inequality and aggression in pornography (e.g., Bridges et al., 2010). Sex educators should increase awareness about the potential harm associated with sexual scripts depicted in pornography. For example, sex educators can provide information regarding consent, its importance, inaccuracies portrayed in pornography, and how to obtain it as those details are often missing from pornography (Rothman & Adhia, 2016). Lastly, our findings suggest that perceived peer acceptance of porn depicting rape is a salient correlate of negative attitudes towards women. Thus, when discussing potential effects of porn, sex educator should particularly pay heed to perceptions of peer norms. This may involve facilitating critical examination of peers’ impacts on an individual’s sexual script and behavior.

Limitations and Future Directions

Whereas the present study adds to the literature in several ways, limitations should be noted. First, the current research was cross-sectional in nature. Whereas few experimental studies examining the association between pornography use and risk factors for sexual aggression exist (see Rodenhizer & Edwards, 2021 for a review), the cross-sectional nature of the study limits making causal inferences about the relationships among pornography use, peer perceptions, and attitudes towards women. Larger scale, longitudinal studies are needed to test the temporal processes theorized in the 3AM model in samples of college men to establish causality. The present study also did not include a measure of self-reported sexual aggression. Well validated measures of sexual aggression perpetration exist (i.e., Koss et al., 2007), and can be incorporated into future research. In addition, the study measures of pornography exposure did not specify that the pornographic rape scenes violated women, as opposed to men, or the kind of sexual behaviors depicted. In future research, measures that account for a full spectrum of gender identities and sexual preferences would be helpful. Along this vein, the current study focused investigation on limited types of pornography (i.e., pornographic depictions involving sexual portrayals of bondage, whipping and spanking as well as rape depictions in which force is used;). However, research shows that 27 different types of pornography exist in mainstream porn media (Hald & Stulhofer, 2016). Thus, future studies should investigate the impact of other types of pornography on attitudes towards women. Further, the measure of pornography exposure and norms related to porn use were derived from prior literature or generated by researchers for the current study. Measures were not psychometrically tested for validity. Whereas this limitation is widely present across various studies measuring porn exposure (for review see Fisher & Kohut, 2020; Miller & Miller, 2019), future investigation should focus on developing psychometrically valid instruments of porn exposure and norms measurement. Finally, although the current study focused on college men and their attitudes towards women, future research may consider including women in the study analyses. While pornography viewership is higher among men, women’s viewing rates are increasing (Maas & Dewey, 2018) and no research to date has assessed how women’s peer perceptions may impact their acceptance of pornography, sexual behaviors, and negative attitudes towards women. Given that violent porn largely depicts violence against women (as opposed to men), it could be possible that greater exposure to such porn as well as perceived peer norms related to it would also increase women’s risk for experiencing sexual aggression as women may consider such behaviors to be normal. Future studies should investigate these speculations. Similarly, the current study sample was predominantly white and was obtained from two universities in the east coast of the United States. Not only does this limit generalizability of findings but it also limits investigation into other confounds such as geographic region. Future studies should examine these relations in college men in other parts of the country as well as in international populations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this research adds to the literature by documenting associations between perceived peer acceptance of pornography that depicts sexual aggression towards women and men’s own negative attitudes towards women. Etiological models of sexual assault, such as the Integrated Model of Sexual Aggression (Orchowski & Berkowitz, 2022), highlight how perceived peer norms may impact negative attitudes toward women to increase risk for sexual aggression among college men. Moreover, these findings highlight the potential importance of nuanced measurement of pornography use, specifically the need to better understand the possible harms associated with pornography that portrays rape. Future longitudinal findings are required to ascertain causality.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse at the National Institutes of Health [R34 AA026032]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Footnotes

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

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