Prepared for the Surgeon General's Workshop on
Pornography and Public Health, June 22-24, 1986,
Arlington, Virginia.

DO SEXUALLY VIOLENT MEDIA INDIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE

TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR?

By Neil M. Malamuth

University of California, Los Angeles

Mailing Address: Neil M. Malamuth
Communication Studies
232 Royce Hall
UCLA
L.A., CA 90024

Running Head: Sexually Violent Media
DO SEXUALLY VIOLENT MEDIA INDIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR?+

Introduction: The Indirect Effects Perspective

The research described below has focused on violent
sexual media, particularly rape.” It demonstrates the
importance of analyzing media stimuli by the “messages” or
meanings they convey. Meaning is, of course, a function of
both the message and the receiver's interpretations of it.

The message given the most attention here involved the

consequences of sexual aggression. A series of experiments

found that rape depictions that showed the victim ultimately
deriving physical pleasure from her experience fostered
attitudes more condoning of aggression against women. Rape
depictions that portrayed the victim abhorring the experience,
on the other hand, were less likely to have such effects.

According to these findings, a PG-rated film showing rape
in a positive light could be more socially detrimental than an
X-rated film not showing sexual violence. The degree of
sexual explicitness, according to this approach, is less
relevant than the "message" behind the depiction of sexual
aggression.°

Besides discriminating among differing "messages" in

studying media stimuli, the research presented differentiates
Sexually Violent Media 2

among media consumers. No influence works in a vacuum and
media influences are viewed as combining and interacting with
a variety of other influences -- sometimes counteracting them,
sometimes reinforcing them and at other times not having much
of any effect.

The current strong interest in exploring a possible
relationship between pornography and crime has led to a search
for direct links between media exposure and deviant behavior.
People have sought an immediate causal connection between
media action and audience imitation. For example, 4 civil
suit brought against NBC alleged that a rape portrayal ina
television movie, Born Innocent, resulted in an imitation rape
by some juvenile viewers. However, because of the ethical
constraints against researchers’ creating conditions that
might increase serious aggression (e€.g-,r exposing individuals
to large doses of violent pornography and seeing if some
commit rapes), experimentation to study direct effects can
only be used to a very limited extent.

Beyond the dramatic popular notion of violent pornography
spurring a minority of sexual deviants and "weirdos"” to
criminal acts, lies the far greyer, more complex, but also
potentially far more pervasive area of indirect effects. The
evidence in this paper suggests the prospect of a wide range
of media affecting the general population in a variety of
different ways. It looks at how an aggregate of media sexual
violence could affect a person's attitudes, which are

concurrently being shaped by family, peers, other media
Sexually Violent Media 3

messages and a host of other influences. Such attitudes might
contribute to stranger and date rape, a not-acted-upon desire
to be sexually aggressive, sanctioning the sexual aggression
of others, or sexist and discriminatory acts. Even when not
translated into violent behavior, such effects have wide

social implications.

men

Figure l
————_—_——,

Elsewhere (Malamuth & Briere, in press), we described an
indirect effects model of the hypothesized development of
aggressive behavior against women (see Figure 1). To briefly
summarize this model, individual conditions and the broader
social climate are postulated as the originating influences on
the individual. The mass media is considered one of the many
social forces that may, in interaction with a variety of other
cultural and individual factors, affect the development of
intermediate attributes such as attitudes, arousal patterns,
motivations, emotions, and personality characteristics. These
intermediate variables, in complex interactions with each
other and with situational circumstances such as alcohol or
acute arousal, may precipitate behaviors ranging from passive
support to actual aggression. In addition to contributing to
attitude formation, the mass media may increase the recall or
"prime" antisocial thoughts, feelings, and behavioral urges

that were previously formed (Berkowitz, 1984).
Sexually Violent Media

For some individuals antisocial acts may take the form of
violence that comes to the attention of the law, such as
"stranger" rape OF wife-battering. For others, these same
underlying factors may contribute to responses that are not
typically prosecuted, but instead are manifested as aggression
in dating situations or in laboratory settings, a reported
desire to commit acts of sexual violence, discrimination
against women, and/or expressed support for the sexual
aggression of others. We are not lumping illegal violence
together with all other antisocial behaviors but we are
suggesting that all these behaviors may share some underlying
causes, including media infuences.

This model indicates possible avenues by which cultural
forces such as the media may change a person's intermediate
responses and how such changes may ultimately affect his own
aggressive behavior under some circumstances. This model also
suggests that attitudinal changes of some people may affect
the aggressive behavior of others. If a person becomes more
tolerant of violence against women as a result of media
exposure or other causal factors, for example, he may change
his reactions to the sexual aggression of others even if his
own aggressive behavior is not altered.

This general model does not suppose a linear sequence of
events, but a reciprocating system of mutually influencing
factors -- as indicated by the upward arrows in Figure 1. For
example, mass media portrayals of sexual violence may

contribute to attitudes and perceptions which, in combination

4
Sexually Violent Media 5

with personality characteristics derived from aversive
childhood experiences, may result in sexual aggression on a
"date." This aggression, especially if unpunished, might
produce a further alteration in attitudes and perceptions
(including of self), that could attract the individual to a
peer network supportive of sexual aggression. These peers,
themselves a product of "originating" and "intermediate"
variables, might then provide greater support and approval for
further sexual aggression.

We have suggested two possible routes culminating in
sexual aggression. First, an individual may "progress"
through the stages hypothesized to produce sexual violence.
Second, mass media stimuli and other cultural influences may
impact on individuals not sexually violent themselves, but who
nevertheless, because of their negative attitudes toward
women, support and reinforce sexual violence in others. Such
support may manifest itself by blaming a rape victim,
supporting another man's aggression in a "locker room"
conversation, or even deciding guilt as a jury member in a
rape trial. The idea of such thought patterns encouraging
sexual violence is reminiscent of the "cultural climate”
concept suggested by Brownmiller (1975). It argues that media
infuences that increase cultural supports for sexual
aggression need not produce jmmediate violence to have
seriously harmful effects. Of course, the indirect model need
not be restricted to sexual aggression but may apply to

nonsexual aggression as well. For example, media depictions
Sexually Violent Media

of violent vigilantes as heroes (e.g., the Death Wish series
of movies) may contribute to a cultural climate condoning
similar behavior in "real world" settings.

The indirect effects model provides the basis for this
paper's twin hypotheses that 1) exposure to some sexually
violent media may contribute to the development of attitudes
that condone aggression against women and that 2) such .
attitudes, in combination with other influences and

circumstances, may lead to sexually violent acts.

Hypothesized Processes Leading to Attitude Changes

Obviously, most viewers of media sexual violence
distinguish between fantasy and reality and don’t necessarily
perceive the media as a model for behavior. However, there is
considerable research indicating that even when people
recognize an event as fictional, for some it can nonetheless
affect their perceptions of reality and their attitudes. Such
media influences may be more likely when the sexual violence
is presented ina positive light or when the audience is

sexually aroused by it.

—_—_——————

Figure 2
Figure 2 summarizes several possible processes by which
media sexual violence might lead to attitudes that are more
accepting of violence against women. I adapted these from

Bandura's (1977, 1986) description of ways by which normally

6
Sexually Violent Media 7

censured acts become more intellectually and emotionally

acceptable. They include:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Labeling sexual violence more as a sexual rather
than a violent act.

Adding to perceptions that sexual aggression is
normative and culturally acceptable.

Altering perceptions of the consequences of sexual
aggression. In particular, minimizing the
seriousness of the consequences to the victim and
reinforcing the myth that victims derive pleasure
from sexual assaults.

Changing attributions of responsibility to place
more blame on the victim.

Elevating the positive value of sexual aggression by
associating it with sexual pleasure and a sense of
conquest.

Reducing negative emotional reactions to sexually

aggressive acts.

Some of the studies discussed later measure these

cognitive and emotional processes.

The Anatomy of Media Sexual Violence

A comparison of sexual versus non-sexual media violence

helps to isolate the characteristics of sexually violent

depictions. Of course, males act against females in the vast

majority of sexually aggressive depictions (e.g., Smith,

1976a, b), whereas the victim is usually male in non-sexual
Sexually Violent Media 8

portrayals of violence (Gerbner, 1972). Two other important
differences distinguish sexual and non-sexual violence.

First, victims of non-sexual aggression are usually shown as
outraged by their experience and intent on avoiding
victimization. They, and at times the perpetrators of the
aggression, suffer from the violence. However, when sexual
violence is portrayed, there is frequently the suggestion
that, despite initial resistance, the victim secretly desired
the abusive treatment and eventually derived pleasure from it.
This provides a built-in justification for aggression that
would otherwise be considered unjustifiable. Sexual violence
is often presented without negative consequences for either
the victim or the perpetrator. For example, less than 3% of
the rapists in "adult" books surveyed by Smith (1976a, 1976b)
suffered negative consequences and their victims were seldom
shown to have regrets about having been raped. Similarly, in
a recent content analysis of videos, Palys (1986) found that
the majority of sexual aggressors were portrayed ina positive
fashion and only seldom did their violence result in negative
consequences.

The second distinction between sexual and non-sexual
violence involves the element of sexual arousal. Such arousal
in response to sexually violent depictions might result in
subliminal conditioning and cognitive changes in the consumer
by associating physical pleasure with violence. Therefore,
even sexual aggression depicted negatively may have harmful

effects because of the sexual arousal induced by the
Sexually Violent Media 9

explicitness of the depiction. For example, a person who
views a sexually violent scene might feel that the violence is
immoral but may nonetheless be sexually aroused by it. Such
arousal might motivate him to rationalize the aggression or to
minimize its seriousness or its consequences.

Given these issues, particular concern about sexual
aggression in the media is not only based on the frequency of
sexual as compared to non-sexual violent portrayals. Instead,
the "positive" manner in which sexual violence is portrayed
and its potential to positively link or reinforce sex and
violence justifies special concern. .

The research described below provides some support for
the indirect effects model's two interrelated hypotheses that
exposure to media depictions can help form attitudes
supportive of real-life sexual aggression and that such

attitudes can in turn contribute to actual aggression against

women.

From Media Exposure to Antisocial Attitudes

SURVEY DATA: Several studies assessed the correlation
between the degree of men's exposure to sexually explicit
media and their attitudes supportive of violence against
women. Such correlational studies can only reveal
associations between the amount of media people reported
consuming and their attitudes. They cannot indicate whether
these media were responsible for their attitudes.

Unfortunately, these studies didn't distinguish between
Sexually Violent Media 10

sexually violent and sexually non-violent media. Had they
focused exclusively on sexually violent media rather than
pornography in general, it's likely that the links to
attitudes condoning aggression would have emerged as strongly,
if not stronger.

In most studies, higher levels of reported exposure to
sexually explicit media correlated with higher levels of
attitudes supportive of violence against women. For example,
in a sample of college men, Malamuth and Check (1985) found
that higher readership of sexually explicit magazines was
correlated with more beliefs that women enjoy forced sex.
Similarly, Check (1984) found that the more exposure to
pornography a diverse sample of Canadian men had, the higher
their acceptance of rape myths, violence against women, and
general sexual callousness. Briere, Corne, Runtz and Malamuth
(1984) reported similar correlations in a sample of college
males. On the other hand, the failure to find a statistically
significant correlation in another study, led Malamuth (in
progress) to examine other interesting correlations.

That study asked subjects to indicate how much
information about sexuality they obtained in their childhood
from various sources, such as peers, parents, church,
educational media, educational courses, sexually explicit
media, and doctors. Pornography emerged as the second most
important source of information, second only to peers.
Subjects who reported obtaining more information from

pornography also held attitudes more supportive of violence
Sexually Violent Media 11

against women. Such a correlation was not found with the
other sources of information about sexuality. Information
from some, such as educational courses, actually correlated
with lower levels of attitudes supportive of violence against
women. In fact, pornography's link to antisocial attitudes
tended to be stronger when compared to other sources of sexual
information than when measured alone.

Focusing only on quantity of exposure, therefore, may be
an oversimplified approach. Pornography's degree of influence
on a person may largely depend on how that exposure interacts
with other influences. People raised with little education
about sexuality or in families where sex was treated as
"taboo," may be more susceptible to the influences of
pornography than those reared with considerable education
about sex (Malamuth, 1978; Malamuth & Billings, 1985). It
makes sense that those with other sources of sex information
can more accurately assess the myths about women and sexuality
portrayed in some pornography. However, those without much
sex education might be more apt to use pornography as a

primary source of information.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH: A growing body of experimental
research complements the survey data linking media exposure to
attitudes. The studies described below have shown connections
between sexually violent media and attitudes supportive of
sexual aggression, but have not revealed similar relations

with equally explicit, non-violent stimuli which portrayed
Sexually Violent Media 12

both sexes in equal power roles. Here, it is possible to
consider a causal link between exposure and attitudes because
other factors have been controlled. Still, caution must be
exercised in generalizing findings from controlled situations
to naturally occurring settings.

Research has examined the impact of “positive” vs.
"negative" rape portrayals in two ways. One series of studies
assessed how either victim arousal or abhorrence at the end of
a rape depiction changed the way in which the assault was
perceived when the rape itself remained identical in the two
versions. When the rape victim became aroused, male subjects
labeled the assault more as a sexual act. They also perceived
greater justification for it, reported a greater likelihood
that they and other men would commit such an act, and saw the
victim as more responsible for what had occurred (Donnerstein,
1984; Rapaport, 1984). These effects have been particularly
pronounced for more sexually aggressive men.

These experiments show that changing the outcome of a
rape affects the way it is perceived. They don't show that
these perceptions carry over to rape in general. In another
series of studies, the carry-over effects of perceptions of
and attitudes toward rape were directly examined. These
studies assessed whether rapes depicting victim arousal
changed subjects perceptions of other rapes, altered beliefs
about women's reactions to sexual assaults and increased the

acceptance of violence against women.
Sexually Violent Media 13

In three experiments, male subjects were either exposed
to depictions of mutually consenting sex, rape in which the
female victim eventually became aroused, or rape abhorred by
the victim. Afterwards, the subjects were shown a rape
depiction and asked about their perceptions of the act and the
victim. In two of the studies, those subjects exposed to the
"positive" rape portrayal perceived the second rape as less
negative than those first exposed to the other depictions
(Malamuth, et al., 1980; Malamuth & Check, 1980). One of
these studies also found that the rape depicting victim
arousal led men to perceive rape as a more normative act
(Malamuth & Check, 1980). Subjects in the third experiment
were asked how women in general would react to being
victimized by sexual violence (Malamuth & Check, 1985a).

Those exposed to a "positive" rape portrayal believed that a
higher percentage of women would derive pleasure from being
sexually assaulted. This effect of the portrayal was
particularly apparent in men with higher inclinations to
aggress against women.

A fourth experiment conducted outside the laboratory
yielded similar results (Malamuth & Check, 1981). Male and
female undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of two
exposure conditions. Participants in the experimental
condition were given free tickets to view feature-length films
on two different evenings that included portrayals of women as
victims of aggression in sexual and non-sexual scenes. These

films suggested that the aggression was justified and/or had
Sexually Violent Media 14

"positive" consequences. Subjects in the control condition
were given tickets to other films on the same evenings which
did not contain any sexual violence. The movies shown in both
exposure conditions have been aired with some editing on
national television. Subjects viewed these films with movie-
goers who purchased tickets and were not part of the research.
Classmates of the recruited subjects who didn't see the films
were also studied as an "untreated" control group. Several
days after the films were viewed, a "Sexual Attitude Survey"
was administered to the entire classes. (Subjects were not
aware of the relationship between this survey ~~ purportedly
administered by a polling agency -—— and the earlier movies
some students had seen as part of an ostensibly unrelated
study.)

Subject responses were assessed by scales developed by
Burt (1980). They included Acceptance of Interpersonal
Violence (AIV) against women (e.g., acceptance of sexual
aggression and wife battering), Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA)
(e.g., the belief that women secretly desire to be raped), and
Adversarial Sexual Beliefs (ASB) (e.g.-, the notion that women
are sly and manipulating when out to attract a man). These
measures were embedded within many irrelevant items intended
to disguise the purpose of the survey.

Exposure to the films portraying “positive” effects
significantly increased the scores of male but not female
subjects on the AIV scale.” A similar pattern was observed on

the RMA scale. Only the ASB scores were not at all affected.
Sexually Violent Media 15

Taken together, the data demonstrated effects sustained over
time® of sexually violent movies on men's acceptance of
violence against women. Moreover, the results were obtained
in a non-laboratory setting seemingly devoid of "demand
characteristics,” i.e., researchers' subtly conveying their
hypotheses to subjects. Recently, Demare (1985) replicated
these results using very similar procedures.

An earlier experiment by Malamuth, Reisen, and Spinner
(1979) found no attitude changes following exposure to media
sexual violence that didn't depict victim arousal. In the
experiments showing significant media effects, the stimuli
were specifically selected because they clearly depicted
violence against women as having “positive” consequences.
These findings suggest that certain antisocial effects may be
limited to media stimuli depicting "positive" consequences of
sexual aggression.

Still, sexually violent films that do not portray
"positive" consequences may nonetheless affect consumers in
undesirable ways. For example, Linz (1985) studied the
effects of repeated exposure to X- and R-rated feature-length
films portraying sexual violence with primarily negative
consequences to victims. He found that these movies had
desensitizing effects on viewers. In one experiment, male
college students who viewed five such movies had fewer
negative emotional reactions to such films. There was even a
tendency for the subjects' "desensitization" to carry over to

their judgments of a rape victim in a simulated trial
Sexually Violent Media 16

presented following their exposure to the films. In a second
experiment, Linz (1985) again found that males exposed to
several R-rated, sexually violent films became less
sympathetic to a rape victim in a simulated trial and were

less able to empathize with rape victims in general.

From Attitudes to Antisocial Behavior

Although psychologists have demonstrated that there is
seldom a strong, direct link between attitudes and behavior
(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977), several researchers have contended
that attitudes accepting or justifying sexual aggression are
an important cause of aggression against women (e@.g.,
Brownmiller, 1975; Russell, 1984). Burt has presented the
most influential theoretical perspective in this area (1978;
1980; 1983). She contends that a cultural matrix that
encourages rigid sex roles and supports male dominance over
females generates attitudes supportive of rape. These
attitudes act as "psychological releasers or neutralizers,
allowing potential rapists to turn off social prohibitions
against injuring or using others" (1978, p- 282). To assess
such attitudes and beliefs, Burt (1980) developed the scales
used in the experiments described earlier, including the AIV,
RMA, and ASB.

Studies by Malamuth and his colleagues provide some
support for Burt's perspective. They show a significant
relationship between Burt's rape-condoning attitude scales and

men's self-reported likelihood of engaging in a wide range of
Sexually Violent Media 17

violence against women as long as the men suffered no negative
consequences (e.g., Briere & Malamuth, 1983; Malamuth, 1981;
1984). However, some commentators have contended that the
linkage between attitudes and actual aggressive behavior is
assumed too facilely in such studies (e.9-, Vance, 1985).
Fortunately, several studies have recently examined this
connection and have found consistently that the attitude
scales can predict actual aggressive behavior. This, of

course, does not mean that everyone with attitudes condoning

aggression will act on them.

LABORATORY AGGRESSION: Malamuth (1983) tested whether
men's attitudes could predict their aggressive behavior ina
laboratory setting. He also examined whether men's arousal to
rape depictions compared to their arousal to consensual sex
depictions predicted laboratory aggression.

About a week after both attitudes (on the AIV and RMA
scales) and sexual arousal to rape were measured, subjects
participated in what they believed was a totally unrelated
“extrasensory perception" experiment. In that session, they
were angered by a female aide of the experimenter who
pretended to be another subject. Later in the session,
subjects could vent their aggression against her by
administering unpleasant noise as punishment for her incorrect
responses. They were told that punishment was thought to
impede rather than aid extrasensory transmission, but they

were given the option of trying it out. Subjects were also
Sexually Violent Media 18

asked how much they wanted to hurt their co-subject with the
noise. Men with attitudes more condoning of aggression and
with higher levels of sexual arousal to rape were more
aggressive against the woman and wanted to hurt her toa
greater extent.

Malamuth and Check (1982) successfully replicated these
results in a similar experiment that didn't consider the
subjects’ arousal to rape but did assess attitudes. Later,
Malamuth (1984b) examined the extent to which several measures
related to violence against women (including attitudes)
predicted laboratory aggression against both female and male
targets. While strong relations between the predictor
measures and aggressive behavior were found for female
targets, only weak relations were obtained for male targets.
Taken together, these three experiments consistently showed
that attitudes condoning aggression against women related to
objectively observable behavior -- laboratory aggression
against women.

Although such laboratory assessments of aggression have
the advantage of being an objective measurement not relying on
subjects’ self-reports, they have the disadvantage of using a
setting that some researchers argue is artifical and lacking
in ecological validity (e.g., Kaplan, 1983). The case for
linking attitudes condoning aggression with actual aggressive
behavior is strengthened by studies that have measured

naturally-occurring behavior.
Sexually Violent Media 19

AGGRESSION IN NATURALISTIC SETTINGS: These studies have
used samples of men from the general population as well as
convicted rapists. The importance of attitudes toward
violence is confirmed by data showing that men's aggression
against women is linked with their own attitudes as well as
those of their peers.

Ageton (1983) gauged the extent to which a variety of
measures predicted levels of sexual aggression. Eleven to
17-year-old subjects, drawn froma representative national
sample, were interviewed in five consecutive years between
1976 and 1981. Based on subjects' self-reported behavior,
they were categorized as sexually aggressive or non-
aggressive.

The results showed that involvement with delinquent peers
at a young age was the strongest factor in predicting sexual
aggression later in life. Personal. attitudes toward sexual
assault was another of the factors found to differentiate
significantly between those who became sexually aggressive and
those who did not. Ageton therefore concluded that "“peer-
group support for sexually aggressive behavior does appear to
be relevant to the performance of this behavior, as do
attitudes supportive of rape myths.”

Another study was recently reported by Alder (1985). She
used a subsample from a larger representative sample of men
from a particular county in Oregon. Variables potentially
predictive of sexual aggression were assessed. These included

family, social class, educational attainment, war experience,
Sexually Violent Media 20

peer behavior, and personal attitudes toward sexual
aggression. The findings suggested that the most important
factor relating to sexual aggression was having sexually
aggressive friends. The other two factors found likely to
contribute to sexual aggression were attitudes legitimizing
such aggression and military service in the Vietnam war.

Several studies using samples of college men also
reported significant links between attitudes and actual sexual
aggressiveness (Briere et al., 1984; Koss, Leonard, Beezley, &
Oros, 1985; Mosher & Anderson, 1986; Rappaport & Burkhart,
1984). These studies measured self-reported sexual aggression
on a continuum of behaviors ranging from psychological
pressure on women to rape. Similar results were reported by
Kanin (1985) who compared the attitudes of 71 university
students who admitted committing rape with a control group of
non-aggressive college males. He found that a much higher
percentage of rapists justified rape in general than did
control subjects. Moreover, he found that rapists were far
more likely to believe their reputations would be enhanced
among their peers by aggressive behavior toward women,
particularly those perceived as "pick-ups," "loose,"
"teasers," or “economic exploiters."

In a study of 155 men who were mostly college students,
Malamuth (1986) broke down the variables thought to set the
stage for sexual aggression into three classes. Motivation
for sexual aggression included sexual arousal to aggression,

hostility toward women, and dominance as a motive for sex.
Sexually Violent Media 21

Disinhibition to commit sexual aggression included attitudes
condoning aggression and antisocial personality
characteristics. Opportunity to aggress sexually was assessed
by sexual experience. These rape "predictors" were then
correlated with self-reports of sexual aggression. While the
"predictors" related individually to sexual aggression,
interactive combinations of these variables allowed far more
accurate prediction of varying levels of sexual aggression.
Subjects who had relatively high scores on all of the
predictor variables were also highly aggressive sexually.
These data have been successfully replicated by Malamuth and
Check (1985b) in an independent sample of 297 males. The
findings suggest that a person's attitudes accepting of
violence against women may be one of several important
contributors to sexually aggressive acts, but that none alone
is sufficient for serious sexual aggression.

Taken together, the data on unincarcerated subjects point
clearly toa relationship between sexual aggression and
attitudes supportive of violence against women, although they
also highlight the importance of other contributing factors.
One of these other factors, peer support, might also be
influenced by the impact of media exposure on the audience's
attitudes. The findings on unincarcerated men are reinforced

by research on incarcerated rapists.

CONVICTED RAPISTS: Many clinical studies report that

convicted rapists frequently hold callous attitudes about rape
Sexually Violent Media 22

and believe in rape myths to a relatively high degree (e.g-,
Gager and Schurr, 1976). Data from more systematic studies of
rapists' attitudes tend to collaborate the clinical reports.
For example, Wolfe and Baker (1980) studied the beliefs and
attitudes of 86 convicted rapists and reported that virtually
all believed that their actions did not constitute rape or
were justified by the circumstances. Unfortunately, these
investigators did not distinguish between general endorsement
of rape myths and rationalizations of the rapists' personal
crimes. Burt (1983) found that although rapists perceived the
same degree of violence as the general public in vignettes
describing aggression against women, they were less likely to
perceive the violence as "bad" and more likely to justify it.
Finally, Scully and Marolla (1984, 1985) found that rapists
tended to believe in rape myths, particularly those justifying
violence against women, more than control groups composed of

other felons.

Other Relevant Data

NONSEXUAL MEDIA VIOLENCE: Although research on nonsexual
media violence has not devoted much attention to the formation
and importance of attitudes (Rule & Ferguson, in press), some
relevent findings exist. The research of Huesmann, Eron,
Klein, Brice and Fischer (1983) attempts the most direct
assessment of cause and effect relations in this area. After
involving elementary school children in a program designed to

change their attitudes about television violence, the
Sexually Violent Media 23

researchers studied whether changed attitudes translated into
less aggressive behavior. The students were randomly divided
into experimental and control groups. Over a 2 year span, the
experimental group was educated about harmful aspects of
television violence while the control group received neutral
treatments. Although the frequency of the children's free-
time viewing of violence did not change, their attitudes about
the violence did. In addition, their peers reported reduced
aggression in the experimental group but no change in the
behavior of the control group. These data suggest that
changed attitudes about TV violence led to a reduction in
personal aggression by children, as reported by their peers.

Another relevant study was just published by Vern der
Voort (1986). He assesed whether individual differences in
children's perceptual, emotional and attitudinal reactions to
TV violence predicted peer-reported aggression. Significant
relations were found between the predictors (measured one year
earlier) and actual aggression. The more children approved of
the violence of "good guys" on TV, the higher their
aggression, even after factors such as socio-economic levels
and school achievement were controlled. Vern der Voort also
found that parents who were less concerned about their
children viewing violence had more aggressive children. While
these findings suggest a relation between attitudes and

behavior, they don't enable cause and effect conclusions.
Sexually Violent Media 24

JURY STUDIES: One aspect of the model presented in
Figure 1 is the idea that changes in attitudes may be of
importance even if these attitudes do not increase the
likelihood that the person himself will commit aggressive
acts. Jury decisions, for example, involve attitudes about
aggression and not aggressive behavior.

Feild and Bienen (1980) examined the impact of personal
juror characteristics on reactions to a simulated rape case.
The "jurors" in the simulated trials were groups of citizens,
police officers, rape counselors and rapists. Juror attitudes
about rape were found to be highly predictive of their
decisions in the rape trial. For example, people who believed
that rape victims often precipitate rape were more lenient
toward the rapist than those not holding such an attitude. If
attitudes condoning of violence against women can result in
milder punishment of rapists, the deterrence against rape may

be reduced by social attitudes.

Summary and Conclusions

The research presented has provided support for the model
hypothesizing indirect causal influences of media sexual
violence on antisocial behavior against women. Data were
described which indicate: a) linkages between exposure to
media portrayals of sexual violence and resultant attitudes
supportive of sexual aggression, and b) a relationship between

such attitudes and a variety of antisocial behaviors against
Sexually Violent Media 25

women. The data suggest that such attitudes may lead to high
levels of sexual aggression if combined with other factors
such as peer support for aggression, sexual arousal to
aggression, antisocial personality characterstics and
hostility toward women. Clearly, much additional research is
needed to further develop and test this model.

As with many behaviors, it is apparent that antisocial
behavior against women is a function of several interacting
causal factors. It is very difficult to gauge the relative
influence of media exposure alone, but it would appear that,
by itself, it exerts a small influence. But this appears to
be true to some degree for all the contributing causes. Only
in interaction with other factors might they have substantial
influences. The reduction of antisocial behavior against
women, therefore, requires attention to all potentially

contributing factors, including the mass media.
Sexually Violent Media 26

Footnotes

ly thank Timna Horowitz and Susan Holley for valuable

comments on earlier drafts of this paper and Rebecca Lipa for
her excellent typing. Correspondence should be addressed to
Neil M. Malamuth, Communication Studies, 232 Royce Hall, UCLA,

Los Angeles, CA 90024.

2rhe term pornography is used in this paper to refer to
sexually explicit media without any pejorative meaning
intended. Also, the terms aggression and violence are used

interchangeably herein, as are the terms sexually violent
media and violent pornography.

30¢£ course, sexual explicitness in and of itself should
not be ignored as a conveyance of messages. Based on cultural
and personal background and experience, sexual explicitness
may be interpreted in many different ways. For example, the
uncovering of a woman's body may be perceived by some as
debasing her. Similarly, the public display of sex may break
taboos that could be interpreted as sanctioning other
restricted behaviors (Malamuth, Jaffe, and Feshbach, 1977).
However, such interpretations are not inherent to sexually
explicit media whereas a positive depiction of rape or child
molestation is not equally a matter of individual
interpretation.

4the focus in this model is on the factors that may

contribute to the development of antisocial behavior.
Sexually Violent Media 27

Obviously, there may be varied factors, including some media
portrayals, leading to the development of attributes
stimulating prosocial behavior and reducing antisocial
responses. Also, this model does not necessarily exclude
other possible effects of sexually violent media, some of

which may not necessarily be judged harmful by many observers.

>Ssome might argue that the use of college students in
these and similar studies limits the ability to generalize
from the findings. That implies that college students are
more susceptible to media influences than non-college students
or younger people. In fact, less educated and younger groups

might be more susceptible to such influences.

6+ would be desirable to examine the effects of sexually
violent media over longer time periods than a week. However,
ethics committees have in certain instances refused to permit
such delays, requiring that subjects be debriefed soon after
the media exposures. These debriefings are intended to
mitigate the negative effects of exposure to sexually violent
media. They appear to have been effective (e.g. Donnerstein
& Berkowitz, 1981; Linz, 1985; Malamuth & Check, 1984). They
point to the need for further research on the efficacy of
educational interventions, including those presented via the
mass media, designed to reduce attitudes supportive of
violence against women and to reduce susceptibility to the

possible negative impact of sexually violent portrayals.
Sexually Violent Media 28

References

Ageton, $.S. (1983). Sexual assault among adolescents.
Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.

Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior
relations: A theoretical analysis and review of
empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888-918.

Alder, C. (1985). An exploration of self-reported sexually
aggressive behavior. Crime and Delinquency, 31, 306-331.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought action: A
social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, Nd:
Prentice-Hall.

Berkowitz, L. (1984.) Some effects of thoughts on anti- and
pro-social influence of media events: A cognitive
neoassociation analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 95,
410-427.

Briere, J., Corne, S.-, Runtz, M., & Malamuth, N.M. (1984,
August). The Rape Arousal Inventory: Predicting actual
and potential sexual aqgression in a university
population. Paper presented at the annual meetings of
the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.

Briere, J., & Malamuth, N.M. (1983). Self-reported likelihood
of sexually aggressive behavior: Attitudinal versus
sexual explanations. Journal of Research in Personality,

17, 315-323.
Sexually Violent Media 29

Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women and
rape. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Burt, M.R. (1978). Attitudes supportive of rape in American
culture. House Committee on Science and Technology,
Subcommittee Domestic and International Scientific
Planning, Analysis and Cooperation, Research into violent
behavior: Sexual assaults (Hearing, 95th Congress, 2nd
session, January 10-12, 1978) (pp. 277-322). Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Burt, M.R. (1980). Cultural myths and support for rape.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38,
217-230.

Burt, M.R. (1983). Justifying personal violence: A
comparison of rapists and the general public.
Victimology: An International Journal, 8, 131-150.

Check, J. (1984). The effects of violent and nonviolent
pornography (Contract No. 95SV 19200-3-0899). Ottawa,
Ontario: Canadian Department of Justice.

Dietz, P.E., & Evans, B. (1982). Pornographic imagery and
prevalence of paraphilia. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 139, 1493-1495.

Demare, D. (1985). The effects of erotic and sexually violent
mass media on attitudes toward women and rape.
Unpublished manuscript, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada.

Donnerstein, E. (1984). Pornography: Its effects on violence

against women. In N.M. Malamuth & E. Donnerstein (Eds.),
Sexually Violent Media 30

Pornography and Sexual Aqgression (pp. 53-81). Orlando,

Florida: Academic Press.

Donnerstein, E., & Berkowitz, L. (1981). Victim reactions in

aggressive-erotic films as a factor in violence against

women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41,

710-724.
Feild, H., & Bienen, L. Jurors and rape: A study in

psychology and the law. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath.

Gager, N., & Schurr, C. (1976). Sexual assault: Confronting

rape_in America. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

Gerbner, G. (1972). Violence in television drama: Trends and

symbolic functions. In G.A. Comstock and E.A.
Rubinstein (Eds.), Television and social behavior
(Vol. 1). Media content and control (pp- 28-187).

Washington, D.C.?: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Huesmann, L.R., Erom,e L.D., Klein, Re, Brice, P. & Fischer, P.

(1983). Mitigating the imitation of aggressive behaviors
by changing children's attitudes about media violence.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44,

899-910.

Kanin, E.J. (1985). Date rapists: Differential sexual

socialization and relative deprivation. Archives of

Sexual Behavior, 14, 219-231.

Kaplan, R. (1983). The measurement of human aggression. In

R. Kaplan, V. Koencni, & R. Novaco (Eds.), Aggression in

children and youth. Rijn, Netherlands: Sijthoff &

Noordhuff International Publishers.
Sexually Violent Media 31

Koss, M.P., Leonard, K.E., Beezley, D.A., & Oros, C.J.

(1985). Nonstranger sexual aggression: A discriminant
analysis of psychological characteristics of nondetected
offenders. Sex Roles, 12, 981-992.

Koss, M.P., & Oros, C.J. (1982). Sexual experiences survey:
A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and
victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 50, 455-457.

Linz, D. (1985). Sexual violence in the media: Effects on
male viewers and implications for society. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Malamuth, N.M. (September 1978). Erotica, aggression and
perceived appropriateness. Paper presented at the 86th
annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association, Toronto, Canada.

Malamuth, N.M. (1981). Rape proclivity among males. Journal
of Social Issues, 37, 138-157.

Malamuth, N.M. (1983). Factors associated with rape as
predictors of laboratory aggression against women.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45,
432-442.

Malamuth, N.M. (1984a). Aggression against women: Cultural
and individual causes. In N.M. Malamuth and
E. Donnerstein (Eds.), Pornography and Sexual Aggression
(pp. 19-52). Orlando, Florida: Academic Press.

Malamuth, N.M. (1984b). Violence against women: Cultural,

individual, and inhibitory-disinhibitory causes. Paper
Sexually Violent Media 32

presented at the Annual Meetings of the American
Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.

Malamuth, N.-M. (1986). Predictors of naturalistic sexual
aggression. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 30, 953-962.

Malamuth, N.M. (in progress). Sources of information about
sexuality and their correlates: With particular focus on
pornography.

Malamuth, N.M., & Billings, V. (1985). The functions and
effects of pornography: Sexual communication versus the
feminist models in light of research findings. [In
J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Perspectives on Media
Effects. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Publishers.

Malamuth, N.M., & Briere, J. (in press). Sexual violence in
the media: Indirect effects on aggression against women.
Journal of Social Issues.

Malamuth, N.M., & Check, J.V.P. (1981). The effects of mass
media exposure on acceptance of violence against women:
A field experiment. Journal of Research in Personality,
15, 436-446.

Malamuth, N.M., & Check, J.V.P. (June 1982). Factors related
to aggression against women. Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association,
Montreal, Canada.

Malamuth, N.M., & Check, g.V.P. (1984). Debriefing
effectiveness following exposure to rape depictions. The

Journal of Sex Research, 20, 1-13.
Sexually Violent Media 33

Malamuth, N.M., & Check, J.V.P. (1985a). The effects of
aggressive pornography on beliefs in rape myths:
Individual differences. Journal of Research in
Personality, 19, 299-320.

Malamuth, N.M.,- & Check, J.V.P. (1985b). Predicting
naturalistic sexual aqqression: A replication.
Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Los
Angeles.

Malamuth, N.M., Check, J.V.P., & Briere, J. (1986). Sexual
arousal in response to aggression: Ideological,
aggressive, and sexual correlates. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 330-340.

Malamuth, N.M., Feshbach, S., & Jaffe, Y. (1977)- Sexual
arousal and aggression: Recent experiments and
theoretical issues. Journal of Social Issues, 33,
110-133.

Malamuth, N.M., Haber, S., & Feshbach, S. (1980). Testing
hypotheses regarding rape: Exposure to sexual violence,
sex differences, and the "normality" of rapists. Journal
of Research in Personality, 14, 121-137.

Malamuth, N.M., Reisin, I.-, & Spinner, B. (1979)- Exposure to
pornography and reactions to rape. Paper presented at
the 86th annual convention of the American Psychological
Association, New York.

Mosher, D.L., & Anderson, R.D. (1986). Macho personality,

sexual aggression, and reactions to guided imagery of
Sexually Violent Media 34

realistic rape. Journal of Research in Personality, 20,

77-94.

Palys, P.S.- (1986). Testing the common wisdom: The social
content of video pornography. Canadian Psychology, 27,
22-35.

Rapaport, K. (1984). Sexually aggressive males:
Characterological features and sexual responsiveness to
rape depictions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.

Rapaport, K., & Burkhart, B.R. (1984). Personality and
attitudinal characteristics of sexually coercive college
males. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 216-221.

Rule, B., & Ferguson, T. (in press). The effects of media
violence on attitudes, emotions and cognitions. Journal
of Social Issues.

Russell, D.E.H. (1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child
sexual abuse and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills:
Sage Publications.

Scully, D.r & Marolla, J. (1984). Convicted rapists'
vocabulary of motive: Excuses and justifications.
Social Problems, 31, 530-544.

Scully, D., & Marolla, J. (1985). Riding the bull at
Gilley's: Convicted rapists describe the rewards of
rape. Social Problems, 32, 251-263.

Smith, D.G. (1976a). Sexual aggression in American
pornography: The stereotype of rape. Presented at the

annual meetings of the American Sociological Association,

New York.
Sexually Violent Media 35

Smith, D.G. (1976b). The social content of pornography.

Journal of Communication, 26, 16-33.

Vance, C.S. (1985). What does the research prove? Ms,

Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 10 (April, p. 40).
Van der Voort, T.H.A. (1986). Television violence: A

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier

child's-eye view.
Science Publishing Co.

Wolfe, J., & Baker, V. (1980). Characteristics of imprisoned

rapists and circumstances of the rape. In C.G. Warner

(Ed.), Rape and sexual assault. Germantown, MD: Aspen

Systems Co.
FIGURE 1
HYPOTHESIZED DEVELOPMENT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST WOMEN

 

 

 

 

 

Developmental
level
Individual experiences
Originating Cultural forces
(e.g., home environment,
variables (e.g., mass media) traumatic events)
Attitudes,
Intermediate perceptions, st Dominance ee Personality setae
variables belief motives characteristics ag)
aggression women supportive peers
systems
Immediate Opportunity Disinhibiting Acute arousal
(situational) and events (e.9., (e.g., frustration, reiming stint
variables access alcohol, Immediate perceived Insult) “G,
pressure or approval)
Antisocial Aggression Aggression Nonaggressive
behavior accepted as often not seen Laboratory antisocial acts
against crime (e.g., as criminal (e.g. , aggression (e.g., discrimination,
women stranger rape) "date rape") expressing support

for aggression)
Figure 2

HYPOTHESIZED PROCESSES MEDIATING IMPACT OF MEDIA SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON ATTITUDES

 

 

 

MEDIA Sexual aggression depicted in "positive" fashion and/or
EXPOSURE: associated with sexual arousal

Euphemistic Labeling Normative Perceptions Consequences Responsipitity Valuation Emotionality
PERCEPTUAL Attribution
AND EMOTIONAL Labeling aggression Increase Perceptions Minimize Increase Increase Reduce
PROCESSES: as sexual rather that aggression is seriousness victim blame positive negative

than violent normative to victim reactions emot ions
to to

\ aggression aggression
ATTITUDE Increase in attitudes facilitating sexual aggression
CHANGES:

(e.g., rape myth acceptance, acceptance of violence against women)