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Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography

Dolf Zillmann

Indiana University

Paper prepared for the
Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography and Public Health
Arlington. Virginia

June 22-24, 1986
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Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography

Most experimental investigations of the behavioral consequences
of exposure to graphic portrayals of sexual activities have employed a.
research paradigm in which (a) subjects consume pornographic stimuli
just once and (b) any effects are ascertained more or less immediately
thereafter (cf. Donnerstein, 1984b; Malamuth, 1984; Sapolsky, 1984;
Zillmann, 1984). This paradigm has much to recommend itself and is
particularly suited to the testing of specific proposals concerning
the psychological and physiological mediation of known consequences.
However, as a means of establishing perceptual, attitudinal, and
behavioral changes, especially lasting ones, the paradigm can rightly
be questioned. First, many effects of interest may manifest
themselves only after repeated exposure to critical stimuli. Second,
and equally important, effects may be transient (cf. Berkowitz &
Heimer Rogers, 1986; Wyer & Srull, 1981; Zillmann, 1983) and without
consequence for later behavior. In establishing perceptual,
attitudinal, and behavioral consequences of the consumption of
pornography, then, it would seem imperative to employ designs that
accomplish (a) repeated exposure with between-exposure intervals that
simulate characteristic consumption patterns and (b) delayed
assessments of effects with an interval between consumption and
effects that rules out that the effects are of trivial duration.

Experimental investigations that employed this latter type of design
in exploring the effects of the consumption of pornography have
actually been conducted and are summarized in this paper.

The prolonged-exposure paradigm has been pioneered in two
investigations that were initially presented in the Technical Report
of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (1971). Mann, Sidman,

and Starr (1971; see also Mann. Berkowitz, Sidman, Starr, & West,
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1974) explored the effect of repeated exposure to pornography on
sexual behavior; and Howard, Reifler, and Liptzin (1971; see also
Reifler, Howard, Lipton, Liptzin, & Widmann, 1971) probed consequences
for excitation and cognition in the later consumption of pornographic
materials.

Mann et al. exposed married couples in four consecutive weekly
sessions to sexually explicit films or, in a control condition, to
nonerotic films. During the treatment period, subjects recorded their
sexual activities in diaries. Exposure to erotica was found to
Stimulate sexual behavior only shortly. Sexual activities were more
frequent on exposure days than on the days thereafter. The
transitory, sex-stimulating effect diminished over the weeks and
became negligible in the fourth week. Mann et al. emphasized that
this stimulating effect was rather nonspecific, manifesting itself in
@ variety of sexual activities with which the couples were familiar.
The investigutors concluded that the couples did not adopt depicted
sexual practices that were not already part of their behavioral
repertoire. Exposure to pornography merely seemed to revive well
established but dormant sexual practices.

The conclusion that pornography does not entice consumers to try
out novel sexual practices is compromised by the fact that the
investigation was conducted with couples who were married for at least
ten years. Couples with such sexual histories presumably could detect
little, if anything, in the erotic materials that was not already part
of their sexual repertoire. The conclusion also clashes with more
recent findings which show that sexually inexperienced persons readily
accept and are willing to practice particular sexual behaviors that
they have witnessed on the screen (e.g., Wishnoff, 1978). Most

importantly, however, the findings reported by Mann et al. seem of
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little consequence for considerations of public health because effects
of pornography on sexual behaviors are, in general, not feared to
produce socially undesirable effects. The instigation of sexual
interest and desire, as well as the likely expansion of repertoires of
sexual techniques through modeling (cf. Bandura, 1969, 1971), are--
without visible opposition--accepted as positive effects of
pornography. The notable exception is the use of pornography in the
enticement of prepubertal girls and boys to take part in sexual
activities with adults (Lanning, 1984). However, these uses have. for
obvious reasons, not been subjected to systematic effects research.

In the Howard et al. investigution of the effects of pornography
consumption on later reactions to pornography, male college students
were given access to pornographic films, photographs, and readings, or
they were not given such access in a control condition. This was done
in 15 sessions that were distributed over a three-week period. The
experimental subjects were free to choose from among these materials
and from among nonerotic ones in the first 10 sessions. In the
following three sessions, the original pornographic materials were
replaced by new ones. In the last two sessions, the nonerotic
materials were removed. Each session lasted 30 minutes, and during
this time the subjects recorded their activities at regular intervals.
Both experimental and control subjects were shown an explicitly sexual
film prior to and following the extended exposure treatment. Eight
weeks after the treatment, the expcrimental subjects were once more
shown an explicitly sexual film. Numerous measures of sexual arousal
were taken during and after exposure to the films, and a battery of
self-perception and attitudinal measures was recorded following
exposure.

The findings show, first of all, that the young men initially had
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e strong interest in pornographic films. However, this interest faded
rapidly with repeated consumption. Pornographic photographs and
readings received comparatively little attention, but this attention
was sustained. The eventual introduction of novel pornographic
materials failed to return interest to the initial high levels.
Following the unrestricted consumption of pornography in the
experimental condition, subjects characterized their reactions to
pornography as boredom. Although interest in pornography was
maintained to some degree, the findings give no indication that
frequent consumption of the materials in question fosters oF
facilitates favorable reactions such as enjoyment.

The analysis of the physiological data yielded results that are
consistent with decreased interest or increased boredom. It revealed
a loss of responsiveness as the result of frequent consumption.
Exposure to an explicitly sexual film immediately after the conclusion
of the longitudinal treatment produced diminished reactions of sexual
excitedness. On the most direct measure of sexual arousal, penile
tumescence, reduced responsiveness was obtrusively evident. Erections
were less pronounced and more poorly maintained than prior to frequent
exposure to pornography. Complementary meusures, such as release of
acid phosphatase, showed redundant changes. Sympathetic activity, a
vital concomitant of sexual excitedness, also underwent parallel
changes. Heart rate, respiration rate, and skin temperature indicated
reduced responsiveness. The loss of specifically sexual
responsiveness, however, appeared to be more consistent and more
pronounced than that of its sympathetic accompaniment. Finally, the

remeasurement of physiological reactions to pornography after a period

Figure 1}
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of eight veeks, during which subjects were not treated in any
particular way, revealed some degree of recovery from the loss of
responsiveness. But more importantly, this responsiveness remained
markedly suppressed. The findings on.erection are characteristic.
They are summarized in Figure 1.

The investigation reported by Howard et al. is not without
problems. In the 10 initial exposure sessions, subjects’ choice of
pornography was severely limited. What appeared to be a loss of
interest in pornographic films is more likely the result of subjects
having exhausted the pool of available films. As the subjects
themselves had to record their consumption choices, it is additionally
likely that they experienced evaluation apprehension and avoided
giving the impression of excessive erotic interest and eagerness by
not watching the films repeatedly. The conclusions about rapidly
growing disinterest in and boredom with pornography that were drawn
under these circumstances, together with the authors' insinuation that
interest in pornography is self-corrective, can only be considered
highly tentative. In fact, these conclusions were proved wrong by
subsequent research yel to be described. Additionally, the projection
of growing boredom and disinterest is quite obviously faulted by the
continued commercial success of pornography as a genre of
entertuinment. What the study does show, with some degree of rigor,
is that consumers of pornography grow tired of watching the same
materials repeatedly (see also Kelley, 1982).

The observation of diminished excitatory responding, in terms of
both specifical sexual] arousal and accompanying sympathetic activity,
is not compromised by these procedural difficulties, however.
Eventually. subjects were virtually forced to consume pornography (in

the later sessions); and the intended, strong difference in
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pornography consumption between the experimental and control groups
was accomplished. The demonstration of substantial, enduring
habituation effects of prolonged pornography consumption, then, is not
in doubt. The consequences for public health are not immediately
apparent, however. Habituation of excitatory reactivity might be
specific to erotic entertainment and merely reduce enjoyment of the
material. Pornographic materials might also start to fail as
convenient arousers for sexual activities of parlies exploiting them
in this capacity. On the other hand, the lessened cxcitatory reaction
to erotic entertainment might generalize, to some degree, to erotic
Stimuli employed as arousers in actual, intimate, sexual settinys.

But these possible consequences have not been explored systematically.

A point to be made in this connection is that the enduring
physiological changes that result from prolonged exposure to
pornography are, in all probability, not modifiable by intervention
techniques of “mere talk” (that is. by cautioning subjects to be on
guard, by making them aware of the behavioral changes that occurred,
and/or by debriefing them in the sense of telling them how they should
undo and correct influences, and how, ideally. they should behave).
Abstinence from pornography offers itself as a viable behavior-
modification stratcyy for the regaining of the lost responsiveness--if
such regaining of sensitivity to pornographic materials is deemed
desirable. However, strategies of this kind also have gone
unexplored. ,

The excitatory, attitudinal, and perceptual consequences of
prolonged consumption of pornography were further explored in an
investigation by Zillmann and Bryant (1982, 1984). In contrast to the
experiment conducted by Howard et al., both male and female subjects

vere employed and exposure to pornography was strictly controlled.
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Subjects came to Six exposure sessions in consecutive weeks. In each
session, they sav (a) six pornographic films, (b) three pornographic
and three innocuous films, or (c) six innocuous films. The
pornographic films were taken from a super-8 color series called
"Swedish Erotica." They depicted heterosexual activities among
consenting adults in all conceivable manifestations. However, they
did not involve sadomasochistic acts or anything, such as bondage,
that could be construed as nonvoluntary or coercive behavior on
someone's part.

One week after the last exposure session, subjects' excitatory
and evaluative responses to three additional films were ascertained.
The films featured (a) sexual activities in a suggestive fashion (as
characteristic of R-rated material), (b) common sexual activities in
graphic detail (X-rated), and (c) uncommon sexual activities in
graphic detail (X-rated sadomaswchistic ventures and bestiality).
Similar assessments were made tvo weeks after the exposure treatment.
Finally, in the third week after the treatment, the subjects
participated in a purportedly independent study said to be conducted
for the American Bar Association. Subjects dealt with a case in which
a female hitchhiker was raped. They recommended the prison term, in
years and months, they thought was fair and most appropriate under the
circumstances. Eventually, subjects estimated the popularity of
sexual practices among all sexually active American adults and
reported their concerns about the impact of pornography.

The findings regarding excitatory and evaluative changes are

summarized in Figures 2, 3, and 4. Figure 2 shows the habituation of

Figures 2. 3, and 4

excitatory responding in terms of systolic blood pressure. Other
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measures of sympathetic activity proved redundant. Predictably, the
strongest habituation occurred for stimuli that had been massively
consumed. Also predictably, habituation generalized, to some decree,
to less explicit portrayals of common sexual activities. The total
lack of generalization to uncommon and. hence. relatively novel sexual
practices in pornography was not expected, however.

Figure 3 shows that prolonged exposure to common pornography
reduces initial reactions of repulsion. Figure 4 shows that this loss
of repulsion does not necessarily translate into increased enjoyment.
Prolonged consumption of common fare fostered more favorable
evaluations of portrayals of uncommon sexual practices only. Because
intense enjoyment hinges on heightened sympathetic activity (cf.
Zillmann, 1980), the diminished excitatory reaction to suggestive and
common material presumably resulted in flat pleasurable reactions, if
not in disappointment.

The same response patterns were observed in the second week after
the initial exposure treatment. As the findings reported by Howard et
al. had suggested, the duration of excitatory habituation is indeed
substantial. Related evaluative consequences appear to be similarly
enduring.

The rape case, presented three weeks after the habituation

treatment, produced remarkably strong and partly unexpected effects.

Figure 5

As can be seen from Figure 5, prolonged consumption of common,
nonviolent pornography trivialized rape as a criminal offense. After
prolonged exposure to messages that depict women as sexually
insatiable, as socially nondiscriminating in the sense that they seem

eager to accommodate the sexual desires of any man in the vicinity.
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and as hypereuphoric about any kind of sexual stimulation. men
apparently find exaggeration in the trauma of rape and consider lesser
prison terms appropriate. This outcome was expected. Unexpected was
the finding that women become similarly lenient with rapists, although
they treat them altoyether more punitively than do men. The public-
health implications of these findings, then, do not only concern the
evaluation of rape as a most fundamental violation of human rights,
but also the self-concept of women as a gender--in addition to the
perception of women's sexuality by men.

Regarding the perception of sexuality in general, subjects with

prolonged exposure to pornography, as Figure 6 shows, overestimated

Figure 6

the popularity of all less common sexual practices. This shift in the
perceived normalcy of sexual behaviors can be expected to promote
tolerance toward behaviors deemed "deviant" by others. However,
specific evaluations that could validate such a proposal were not
collected. The investigation entailed, instead, measures of
callousness toward women generally, as well as measures of subjects’
concern about the impact of pornography on society. Prolonged
consumption of pornography was found to promote men's callousness
toward women and to diminish concerns about pornography's impact in
both genders (e.g., subjects came to believe that minors would not
suffer undue emotional distress from exposure to pornography and that
restrictions are largely inappropriate and unnecessary).

Linz (1985; see also Linz, Donnerstein, & Penrod, 1984) conducted
investigations to clarify the mediation of men’s callousness toward
women. Ina first study, male subjects were exposed to violent,

female-victimizing, but nonpornographic films such as "Texas Chainsaw
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Massacre." Subjects watched one movie on five consecutive days.
Immediately after the last showing, they participated in @ rape trial.
Subjects dealt with a case in which an encounter between strangers in
a bar eventually led to the sexuul assault.

The first- and last-day films were counterbalanced to allow
assessments of diminishing sensitivity to violence. Subjects
evaluated numerous aspects of each film after exposure. The
comparison of these evaluations shows that men came to report fewer
emotional disturbances from the same films when shown last (i.e.,
after four similar others). Such habituation also manifested itself
in the perception of lesser violence and diminshed degradation of
women. This perceptual shift was carried into the subsequent trial.
Men who had consumed the series of violent films, compared to men
without such exposure, came to judge the victim of violent assault and
rape as having suffered less, as having been injured less, but also as
now being less worthy altogether.

A second study compared the effects of repeated consumption of
R-rated violent films, of R-rated sexual films, and of X-rated
nonviolent pornography. Exposure was either to two or, as before, to
five films. Film ratings were obtaincd immediately after exposure,
but the rape trial was delayed to the second day after exposure to the
last film. Additionally, the subjects were recruited independently
and had to come to a different building. The case was altered also.
It now involved the alleged rape of a woman ut a fraternity party.

Concerning the perception of rape and its victims, this second
study shows, as did the first, that the consumption of violent
material occasions a loss vf sympathy with and compassion for the
victims of sexual assaults (i.e.. less injury. less worth). The

additional finding that subjects who had consumed R-rated sexual
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movies or X-rated nonviolent pornography had similar effects was
unexpected. Donnerstein (1984a) conceded: “What we consistently find
is" that "those subjects ... who have seen the R-rated films, the X-
rated films or the X-violent films, perceive less injury on the part
of the victim (p. 92)." According to Linz's studies, then, sexuul
themes desensitize men toward rape victims just as strongly as do
violent themes with sexual undercurrents. In fact, the findings show
that the desensitization effect vas the strongest for nonviolent
pornography (cf. Donnerstein, 1984a, p. 92). Nonviolent pornography
thus must contain information that promotes callousness in men toward
sexually victimized women.

Weaver (1986) conducted an investigation to determine exactly
which stimuli within violent and/or erotic entertainment produce the
callousness in question. Male and female subjects were exposed to
nonviolent and nonerotic scenes in a control condition, to scenes
featuring lovers enjoying sexual activities, scenes featuring
nymphomaniacal escapades, scenes featuring rape. or scenes featuring
the terrorization of women without involving clearly sexual threats.
Subjects later participated in ostensibly independent legal research,
dealing with a case of physical abuse of a female cohabitant and with
a case of rape. Exposure to the films was of no consequence for the
damage suit. Judgments of appropriate punishment for rape were
greatly affected, however. Compared with the control condition,
exposure to the film depicting women as sexually insatiable and
socially nondiscriminating--which, it should be noticed, is a most
salient theme in nonviolent pornography--reduced recommended
incarceration terms most strongly (by 37%). Rape and terror had
intermediate effects (28% reduction). Lovers' sex, finally, had only

an insignificant effect (11% reduction). These effects were rather
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uniform across gender of respondent. The only discrepancy occurred in
the terror condition. In this condition, females were highly punitive
toward the rapist, but men were not.

The findings show, first of all, that particular sexual cues that
are entirely devoid of violence are indeed potent mediators of sexual
callousness toward women. Second, they show that the terrorization of
vomen fosters such callousness in men. Third, they suggest that not
all nonviolent erotica are equally involved in the mediation of
callousness concerning rape and its victims.

The research conducted by Linz (1985) thus helped to establish
evaluative components of rape callousness. It failed in another
regard, however. Exposure to the various erotic and violent materials
failed to influence punitive recommendations appreciably. The same is
the case with a subsequent study by Krafka (1985) involving female
instead of male respondents. In this study, subjects vere exposed to
a violent, a sexually violent. or 8 pornographic movie in four
consecutive days. They participated in the fraternity party rape
trial on the fifth day. The main finding was that women, after
consuming violent fare, thought it less likely that they themselves
could become victims of violence. The same group also showed little
sympathy for the rape victim in the trial. However, punitive
recommendation again did not differ as a function of exposure to the
different genres of film.

These null results can be viewed as failures to replicate earlier
findings. The question is: Why did Linz and Krafka fail to obtain
positive findings? One way out of this is to deny failure and to
allege that earlier positive findings were artificial. This was
quickly suggested by arguing that subjects detected a connection

between the exposure treatment and the rape trial and thought to
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please or thwart the experimenter by rendering verdicts that did not
truly reflect how they felt about the rapist. Although this kind of
argument favors null effect by projecting inflated error variance,
some thought it to explain specific effect patterns. Because in the
initial demonstration of diminished punitiveness toward rapists the
same experimenter administered the exposure treatment and the trial in
the same building, while in the null-result studies experimenter and
building were varied from the first to the second part of the
experiment, it was deemed conceivable that subjects came to enlertain
notions about the connectedness in the former situation.

To rule out the possibility that sameness of experimenter and
locale created the effects reported by Zillmann and Bryant (1382),
Bryant (1986) conducted an investigation in which experimenter and
lecale were systematically varied. Subjects were exposed to
pornography on five consecutive days and participated in the rape
trial two days later. For the first and the second part of the study,
they dealt either with the same cxperimenter or with different
experimenters, and they did so either in the same building or in
different buildings. Compared with a control condition in which
subjects consumed innocuous material instead of pornography, punitive
behavior toward the rapist was reduced in all pornography conditions.
Sameness of experimenter and locale contributed to this effect. But
most importantly, incarceration recommendations in the different
experimenter, different locale condition were significantly below
those in the control condition.

Bryant's findings show Lhat the trivializing effect of prolonged
consumption of pornography on rape as a criminal offense is not an
artifact of procedure. It is robust, and its experimental

demonstration is replicable. Linz's and Krafka's failure to obtain
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differcnces in punitiveness thus must result from alternative
procedural features of their research. At least three of them stand
out as likely candidates: (a) In contrast to the earlier used case in
which rape was brutal and never in doubt. the cases used by Linz and
Krafka were highly ambiguous. The rapist enjoyed some mitigating
circumstances. The initial issue was, in fact, his guilt or nonguilt
dependent on whether, in the subjects’ perception, rape had or had not
occurred. Such ambiguity can only increase error variance and
therefore must be considered to favor null effects. (b) Subjects
rated each film on numerous aspects of violence and sex. and they
determined how demeaning each film was to the one or the other gender.
Such assignments must have creulcd a high degree of awareness about
what the investigators considered important media influences, and
subjects may have guarded against these influences. (c) Prior to
rendering a verdict, the subjects had to respond to empathy questions
concerning rapist and victim. Subjects who initially may have felt
little sympathy for the victim may vell have become sympathetic after
responding to such empathy requests. Under these procedural
Circumstances, the null results should be expected rather than come as
a surprise.

Zillmann and Bryant (1986a, 1986b, in press) conducted a series
of investigations into effects of prolonged consumption of pornography
that go beyond callousness in connection with rape and its victims.
Specifically, they explored the implications of such consumption for
(a) perceptions and attitudes concerning sexually intimate
relationships, especially marriage and the family as essential
societal institutions, (b) personal happiness and sexual satisfaction,
and (c) possible shifts in erotic appetite.

The experimental paradigm was much the same as that of the
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earlier work (Zillmann & Bryant. 1982, 1984). Both male and female
subjects consumed either nonviolent pornography or innocuous materials
in hourly sessions in six consecutive weeks. An intermediate exposure
condition was not employed, however. Instead, efforts were made to
expand the generalizability of findings by representing nonstudents in
addition to students. Nonstudents were recruited in strict adherence
to procedures of random sampling. The withdrawal rate upon revelation
of the nature of the research was substantial, however. As a result,
the findings on nonstudents can not be considered representative of
the adult population at large. <A final change concerns the
pornographic materials: Instead of films, the latest color & sound
videocassettes were acquired from rental stores. But the materials
were screened, as before, to assure that none of the depicted
behaviors were violent or coercive or could be construed in these
terms.

One week after the exposure treatment, subjects participated in
ostensibly unrelated work on the American family and aspects of
personal happiness. They responded to a Value-of-Marriage Survey and
completed the Indiana Inventory of Personal Happiness. Shifts in
pornographic preferences were ascertained in the second week after the
exposure treatment.

The impact of prolonged consumption of pornography on the
evaluation and desirability of marriage, family. and children was
explored for its apparent implications for public health. The nuclear
family is generally considered vital for societal welfare (e.g.,

Reiss, 1980). In terms of educational efforts, the family concept
seems universally endorsed. Its values are rarely allowed to be
challenged. Yet the values expressed in pornography clash so

obviously with the family concept. and they potentially undermine the
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traditional values that favor marriage. family, and children.

Even es cursory look at pornography makes this very clear.
Pornographic scripts dwell on sexual engagements of parties who have
just met, who are in no way attached or committed to one another, and
who will part shortly, never to meet again. Not by accident. the
parties involved accept no curtailing rules for their social and
sexual conduct, enjoy sexual stimulation for what it is, and do so at
no social or emotional expense. Sexual gratification in pornography
is not a function of emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring, and
especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance
would translate into responsibilities, curtailments, and costs.
Irrespective of the merits or demerits of the projection that much
gratification is accessible from sexual activities involving
unattached others, the projection is diametrically opposed to the
values that promote enduring social aggreyations, especially those
that are to serve reproduction. Enduring intimate relationships
curtail personal freedoms to some degree. Relationships that provide
economic and emotional security are based on responsibility. if not on
sacrifice. And where, in such a relationship. sexuality is vital and
valued, partners tend to lay claim to exclusive sexual access.
Finally, the decision to have a child or children, whether by a
married couple or by persons otherwise aggregated, is probably the
greatest responsibility that human beings accept. It amounts to
restricted freedom, servitude, and to enormous expenditures for a good
portion of adult life. If sexuality is considered part and parcel of
such enduring relationships, there can be no question that it comes at
a forbidding price. In terms of shere recreational sexual joy, then,
these relationships compare poorly with the short-lived ones that are

continually exhibited in pornography--those that invariably show that
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great pleasures can be had at next to no cost. Prolonged consumption
of entertainment with clesr messages of this kind thus must be
expected to impact profoundly the perception and evaluation of
sexuality and its social institutions and arrangements.

Strong perceptual and attitudinal changes were indeed observed.
The perception of the very nature of sexuality changed. As can be

seen from Figure 7, promiscuity in both men and women was deemed more

natural after prolonged consumption of pornography than without such
consumption. The effect was uniform for male and female respondents
and for students and nonstudents. Beliefs in the faithfulness of
sexual partners predictably declined with the greater acceptance of
promiscuity.

Various attitudinal changes are shown in Figure 8. Prolonged

Figure 8

consumption of pornography fostered greatcr acceptance of pre- and
extramarital sexuul relations for self and intimate partners. Along
with that, it fostered acceptance of sexually nonexclusive relations
with partners. Prolonged consumption also led to greater acceptance
of the myth of health risks from sexual repression. Pornography
apparently manages to convey the idea that unrestrained sexuality is
wholesome and healthy, and that any restraint poses risks. All these
effects are uniform for men and women, students and nonstudents.
Additionally, prolonged consumption of pornography was found to
counteract gender equality. For intimate relationships, male
dominance was favored over egalitarianism. This effect was also

uniform for the various groups. Overall, however, females embraced
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egalitarianism more than did males, and students embraced it more than
did nonstudents.

Pornography consumption had a most powerful effect on evaluations
of the desirability and viability of marriage. Endorsement of
marriage aS an essential institution dropped from 60.0% in the control
groups to 38.8% in the treatment groups. The effect was aguin
parallel for males and females, students and nonstudents.

The most astonishing effect of prolonged pornography consumption
on family values, however, concerns the desire to have children. As

can be seen from Figure 9, exposure to pornography reduced the desire

to have children, and it did so in a uniform fashion. Male and female
respondents, students and nonstudents alike, wanted fewer children on
the average. The desire to have male offspring dropped 31%. The
desire for female offspring, being lower overall, dropped by about
twice that margin: 61%. This reduction proved specific to gender.
Male respondents expressed little desire for female offspring
altogether. It is the desire of females for offspring of their own
kind that, after consumption of pornography, shrank to one third of
its normal strength (see right-hand side of the graph).

These findings suggest that prolonged consumption of pornography,
presumably because it continually projects the attainment of sexual
joy without acceptance of social confinements and obligations, indeed
makes having children and raising a family appear an unnecessary
inconvenience. But such reasoning explains only the overall reduction
in reproductive desire. It leaves unexplained the discrimination
against female offspring by women. Exactly what, within pornography,

inspires this own-gender discrimination remains unclear.
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The Indiana Inventory of Personal Happiness generated clear-cut
findings. None of the items unrelated to sexuality showed differences

in happiness or satisfaction. In stark contrast. all items pertaining

Figure 10

to sex were impacted. Prolonged consumption of pornography reduced
sexual satisfaction and sex-related personal happiness markedly, and
it did so uniformly. The separation of elements of sexual
satisfaction and happiness into an affective component (i.e. loving,
caring), on the one hand, and into sexual activities as such, on the
other, made it clear that satisfaction with sexual specifics--the
looks of intimate partners, their sexual performance, and their
willingness to engage in novel sexual activities--had suffered the
most.

The findings point to a paradox. Presumably, pornography is
initially consumed in hopes of increasing sexual satisfaction. But
consumers eventually compare appearance and performance of
pornographic models with that of their intimate partners, and this
comparison rarely favors their intimate partners. The result is the
realization that, in sexual matters, others may be more gratified.
Dissatisfaction with intimate partners and perhaps with sex at large
seems the inevitable result.

The final study in this series concerned shifting preferences for
pornography. Two weeks after the exposure treatment, subjects
returned once more to the laboratory. An unavoidable delay was
announced, and they were ushered into the office of a research
assistant that was equipped with a monitor, a cassette player, and
numerous cassettes. They were encouraged to watch cassetlces from his

collection while waiting. The cassettes contained movies that were
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G- and R-rated. However, some cassettes were X-rated and featured
common nonviolent pornography, bondage, sadomasochism, or bestiality.
The subjects' consumption of the various cassettes was unobtrusively
monitored.
As Figure 11 shows. subjects with prolonged exposure to common

pornography expressed virtually no interest in this common form of

Figure 11

pornography. The males moved almost exclusively into pornography
depicting less common sexual practices. Females showed the same
preference, but to a markedly lesser degree.

The findings demonstrate that consumers of pornography that
depicts the more common forms of sexuality are not likely to limit
themselves to these forms when given the opportunity to consume
material featuring less common sexual practices, including
sadomasochistic and violent sexual behaviors. This shift in
preference can be expected on the basis of satisfied curiosity about
common sexuality as well as on the basis of excitatory habituation to
frequently consumed fare. Pornography featuring the uncommon, in
contrast, is still met with curiosity. and probably more importantly,
it is still capable of producing sexual excitedness. Surely, some
erotica connoisseurs will be nostalgic about so-called mild stimuli.
But the research projects that, as a rule, consumers will advance to
extreme material before, perhaps, reaching dead end and returning to
whatever erotica in their recollection fostered the most gratifying
sensations. With regard to young consumers, it can only be speculated
at this point that they are likely to be more strongly motivated by
curiosity than by excitatory habituation. This does not detract from

the fact, however, that they are also inclined to go beyond the common
Effects - 22-
and seek exposure to the less common sexual expressions. including
aberrations--violent ones, in particular. For older consumers, a
preference shift toward violent erotica. specifically, is to be
expected, because witnessed violence is sympathetically arousing and,
hence, well suited to supplement fading excitement (owing to
habituation) with pure erotica (cf. Zillmann, 1986).

Bryant (1985) conducted an investigation to show that prolonged
consumption of common pornography influences moral judgment concerning
sexual behaviors specifically. Male and female subjects consumed
pornography or innocuous material in one-hour sessions in five
consecutive days. Two days later they participated in an ostensibly
unrelated study in which they evaluated the moral indefensibility of
humerous nonsexual and sexual improprieties und transgressions.
Subjects indicated the degree to which they thought a particular
social behavior was morally right or wrong.

Exposure to pornography proved to be without consequence for the
moral judgment of nonsexual behaviors (e.g., drunken driving, shop
lifting). In contrast, it greatly influenced the judgment of
improprieties in the sexual realm (e.g., self-advancement through
sexual favors, cover-up of homosexual relutions to a heterosexual
lover). Specifically, it consistently relaxed the moral verdict on
behaviors that were deemed dishonest or immoral by those without the
exposure in question.

The investigation connects with the earlier work on the perceived
popularity of sexual practices as well as with that on the growing
acceptance of sexual freedoms in socially confined situations, such as
marriage. Pornography’s impact on the perception of sexual
behaviors--their overestimation, in particular--apparently grants

these behaviors greater normalcy and, therefore, greater moral
Effects - 23-

legitimacy. The observation that the morality manifest in pornography
finds expression in the moral judgment of sexual conduct generally is
consistent with such an interpretation.

Finally, Check (1985b) conducted-u most informative study in
connection with the Fraser Committee on Pornography and Prostitution
in Canada. Unlike the studies by Linz (1985) and Krafka (1985) in
which pornography was secondary to R-rated horror films, Check’s
investigation focuses on pornography proper and applies the violent-
nonviolent distinction within pornography proper.

Three content classes were distinguished: nonviolent erotica,
nonviolent dehumanizing pornography, and sexually violent pornography.
Nonviolent erotica portrayed sexual behaviors free of "objectionable
elements." As part of the material was taken from sex-education and
sex therapy programs, the depicted behavior could be deemed ideal, if
not idealized. Nonviolent, dehumanizing pornography entailed scenes
such as a man sitting atop a woman, masturbating, and ejaculating into
her face. Sexually violent pornography, finally, featured events such
as the penetration of a woman with un oversize plastic penis while she
was strapped to a table.

Because the labels of these forms of pornography have created
confusion and misunderstandings ulready (e.g., Check, 1985a; Zillmann
& Bryant, in press), clarification seems in order. The qualifier
"dehumanizing" suggests a class of erotic stimuli somewhere between
pornography and violent pornography. It also implies that most
pornography is not dehumanizing. In fact, this has been assumed to be
the case in the interpretation of Check's findings. Yet, commonly
available pornography abounds with events such as masturbation into
the face--which is usually followed by the female's pleasureful

ingestion of sperm. Systematic content analysis leaves no aoubt about
Effects - 24-
it (Palys. 1984). Some parties might well find behavior of this kind
demeaning to someone. Others might object to the depiction of rear-
entry coition. Where should one draw the line? On the one hand,
then, the judgment of what is dehumunizing to whom and what is not is
far too value-laden to be workable. On the other hand, it appears
that what is referred to as dehumanizing pornography is nothing other
than common pornography. It is the class referred to as nonviolent
erotica that is uncharacteristic, as it is devoid of so-called
entertainment value. We thus shall substitule labels and refer to
nonviolent erotica as good-sex or ideal pornography and to nonviolent,
dehumanizing pornography as common pornography. We shall maintain the
label violent pornography. however, although it is debatable whether
consented-to sadomasochistic scenarios--such as the one specified--
qualify as violent or even coercive.

In Check’s investigation, male students and nonstudents (a
nonrepresentative sample similar to that in the study by Zillmann and
Bryant, in press) came to three exposure sessions that were scheduled
within one week or two weeks. Subjects consumed a 30-minute tape of
one of the three kinds of pornography each Session. On average four
to five days later, they participated in a test session in which the
impact was ascertained. A control group participated in this test
session only. The effects of interest were sexually aggressive
attitudes, the inclination to coerce and force women into unwanted
sexual acts, and the proclivity for rape. The measures were Mainly
those developed by Malamuth (1981).

Prolonged exposure to pornography influenced both the reported
likelihood of coercing women into unwanted sexual acts and. more
importantly, the reported likelihood of committing rape. As can be

seen from Figure 12, the likelihood of forced sexual acts increased
Effects - 25-
significantly efter prolonged consumption of common pornography.

Increases after consumption of ideal pornography and violent

pornography are apparent, but were not reliable. The effect pattern

swan eneanrecesneraenrqaeacs

Figures 12 and 13

for rape proclivity proved to be similar, yet different. Both common
and violent pornography increased the reported likelihood of
committing rape significantly and to the same degree. The apparent
increase from consumption of ideal pornography again failed to be
reliable.

The investigation by Check has obvious implications for public
health. It shows that, on the whole, common nonviolent pornography
has the strongest influences on men's willingness to force intimate
partners into forms of sexuality that are not necessarily to their
partners' liking and on the propensity for forcing sexual access
altogether. Violent pornography apparently has the same power to
increase rape proclivity, but its influence on the coercion of
specific sexual acts is limited, if not negligible. Sex-idealizing
pornography is the only form without clear-cut effects on the
readiness for sexual coercion and on rape proclivity. But even here
caution is indicated, because the effect is consistently intermediate
and clearly in the same direction as that from the other forms of
pornography. Although the effect is not reliably above the control
condition, it is never reliably below the effect of these other forms
either.

Check's investigation provided further useful information.
Subjects were classified in terms of psychoticism (Eysenck & Eysenck,
1976). Persons high on psychoticism are known to be rather solitary

and hostile, to lack empathy and to disregard danger. They also are
Effects - 26-

known to prefer impersonal, noncaring sex (Eysenck, 1976). Subjects
scoring comparatively high on the psychoticism scale (but not high
enough to meet clinical criteria) were those greatly influenced by
common nonviolent and violent pornography. In contrast, subjects
scoring low on this scale were only negligibly affected. This effect
pattern is shown in Figure 13.

A final observation of interest concerns heavy consumers of
pornography. The findings reported by Check show that continued
consumption of common pornography by those already in the habit of
consuming such material fosters significant increases in rape
proclivity. The same exposure was without appreciable impact for
persons not taking a strong interest in erotica. Considering the
propensity for rape, then, those who take a keen interest in erotica
seem to constitute the population at risk of becoming coercive and
violent in their sexuality.

The experimentally demonstrated effects of prolonged consumption
of pornography can be summarized as follows:

(a) Excitatory responses to pornography, both specifically sexual
and general ones, diminish with prolonged consumption. Some degree of

recovery occurs spontaneously. It remains unclear, however, which

conditions might facilitate or hamper such recovery.

(b) Repulsion evoked by common pornography diminishes and is lost
with prolonged consumption.

(c) Prolonged consumption of common pornography does not lead to
increased enjoyment of the frequently consumed material. Only less
common forms of pornography that depict less common forms of sexuality
tend to elevate enjoyment.

(d) Prolonged consumption of common pornography fosters a
Effects - 27-

preference for pornography featuring less common forms of sexuality,
including forms that entuil some degree of pseudoviolence or violence.

(e) Prolonged consumption of common pornography distorts
perceptions of sexuality. Specifically, it fosters presumptions of
popularity for all less common sexual practices and of health risks
from sexual hypoactivity.

(£) Prolonged consumption of common pornography promotes
increased acceptance of pre- and extramarital sexuality. Although it
increases distrust among intimates, the violation of sexual
exclusivity is more readily tolerated. Moral condemnation of sexual
improprieties diminishes altogether.

(9g) Prolonged consumption of common pornography spawns doubts
about the value of marriage as an essential societal institution and
about its future viability.

(h) Prolonged consumption of common pornography leads to
diminished desire for progeny. The strongest effect of this kind
concerns the desire of females for female offspring.

(i) Prolonged consumption of common pornography breeds discontent
with the physical appearance and the sexual performance of intimate
partners. To a lesser degree, it breeds discontent with these
partners’ affectionate behavior.

(j) Prolonged exposure to nonviolent and violent pornography
promotes insensitivity toward victims of sexual violence.

(k) Prolonged consumption of common pornography trivializes rape
as a criminal offense.

(1) Prolonged consumption of nonviolent and violent pornography,
especially of the former, promotes men's propensity for forcing
particular sexual acts on reluctant female partners.

(m) Prolonged consumption of nonviolent and violent pornography
Effects - 28-
increases men's propensity for committing rape. This effect is
pronounced for normal men manifesting some degree of psychoticism; it
is negligible for men with minimal psychotic tendencies.
(n) Habitual consumers of common pornography, in contrast to
occasional consumers, are at risk of becoming sexually callous and

violent.
Effects - 29-
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Effects - 3l-
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m
|~
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{wo
~
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n
a
o
Qa
ws

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ase SS OI SSeS OS we SS SSE Oe [——— ae ee

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Effects - 32-

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Effects - 33-

Figure Captions
Figure 1. Habituation of sexual arousal. From Howard, Reifler, and
Liptzin, 1971.
Figure 2. Habituation of sympathetic-excitation. From Zillmann and
Bryant, 1984.
Figure 3. Diminution of repulsion. From Zillmann and Bryant, 1984.
Figure 4. Enjoyment changes. From Zillmann and Bryant, 1984.
Figure S$. Incarceration recommendations for rape. From Zillmann and
Bryant, 1982.
Figure 6. Perceptual consequences. From Zillmann and Bryant, 1982.
Figure 7. Further perceptual consequences. From Zillmann and Bryant,
1986a.
Figure 8. Attitudinal consequences. From Zillmann and Bryant, 1986a.
Figure 9. Reproductive desire. From Zillmann and Bryant, 1986a.
Figure 10. Effects on sexual satisfaction. From Zillmann and Bryant,
1986b.
Figure 11. Changing erotic preferences. From Zillmann and Bryant, in
press.
Figure 12. Reported proclivity for coercion of sexual acts on
uncooperative partners (circles) and for rape (squares). Data points
not sharing a letter differ significantly in comparisons along
gradients. From Check, 1985b.
Figure 13. Reported rape proclivity as a function of psychoticism.
Data points not sharing a letter differ Significantly in comparisons

along gradients. From Check, 1985b.
A Penile Circumference (mm)

30--

25-

 

& Systolic Blood Pressure (mm Hg)

No Habituation

 

8 Weeks After
Bae Habituation

Immediately After
Habituation

job t fot i t Jot
123456789
Exposure (2 min blocks)
Fig.1

Exposure to Pornography
25- ©) None
Intermediate
20 HB Massive

 

 

Suggestive Common Unusual

Coital Scenes
(Responses | Week After Habicuation Treatment)

Fig.2
         

as

ESS SSS

 

| ml
|. =
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(a ‘|
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l l

& 3 a °

uopspnday

Fig.3
Fig.4

 

Yy

Exposure to
Pomogray

C= None
Intermediate
GE Massive

 

   

Coital Scenes
Coital Scenes
{Responses 1 Week After Habituation Treatment)

(Responses 1 Week After Habituation Treaument)

a

 
Frequency Estimate (percent)

20

Exposure to
Pornography

E=] None
Intermediate
WM Massive

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  

120

Incarceration for Rape (months)

 

 

0

 

Men Women

(Responses 3 Weeks After Habituation Treatment)
Fig.5

Exposure to Pornography
Zz EJ None

Intermediate

GE Massive

 

 

Oral Anal Group S&M Bestiality

Sexual Practice
(Responses 3 Weeks After Habituation Treatment)

Fig.6
£25 Control

 

GB Exposure

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Fig.7

 

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ADBUNJU) FENXIS JAISN|IXIUOU yo

 

uow ur Ajyinosiwoid

XOS PEMIVWEIXD pue -aad jo

Perceptual Changes
(One week after exposure treatment)

Control
GB Exposure

 

 

j
wn
4 o

1
°
wn

 

 

 

Attitudinal Changes
(One week after exposure treatment)

 

 

75 f-

qwawaady

aduvda.0y

] j
° w °
wn N

Fig. 8
Satisfaction/Happiness

Desired Children

2

 

 

 
  

 

£9 Control

 

Men & Women Men Women
Combined

(One week after exposure treatment)

Control
GHB Exposure

intimate affection

nonsexual realm
sexual realm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig.9

sexuality proper

 

Impact on Self-Assessment
(One week after exposure treatment)

Fig.10
Reported Proctivity

b
ab
ab
1.5 ;
Rape
b b
ab
a
1.0

bam
_

=e 107

Ee pe

i —

s

a

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4

ye

A

 

Condition

Ql Males Control } Massive

_| Exposure
Females to Common
Pornography

 

 

Neutral Common Uncommon Neutral Common Uncommon
Stimuli Pornography Stimuli Pornography

(Consumption 2 weeks after exposure treatment)

Fig.11

Forced Sex Acts

  
 

1.5
Psychoticism

Reported Rape Proclivity

1.0
Loot
None Ideal Common Violent None Ideal. Common Violent
Pomography Pornography

Fig.12 Fig.13