Pornography and Sexual Aggression: Can Meta-Analysis Find a Link?

Trauma, Violence & Abuse
Christopher J Ferguson, Richard D Hartley

Abstract

Whether pornography contributes to sexual aggression in real life has been the subject of dozens of studies over multiple decades. Nevertheless, scholars have not come to a consensus about whether effects are real. The current meta-analysis examined experimental, correlational, and population studies of the pornography/sexual aggression link dating back from the 1970s to the current time. Methodological weaknesses were very common in this field of research. Nonetheless, evidence did not suggest that nonviolent pornography was associated with sexual aggression. Evidence was particularly weak for longitudinal studies, suggesting an absence of long-term effects. Violent pornography was weakly correlated with sexual aggression, although the current evidence was unable to distinguish between a selection effect as compared to a socialization effect. Studies that employed more best practices tended to provide less evidence for relationships whereas studies with citation bias, an indication of researcher expectancy effects, tended to have higher effect sizes. Population studies suggested that increased availability of pornography is associated with reduced sexual aggression at the population level. More studies with improved practices ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 12, 2021·Journal of Sex Research·David SpeedKeerthana Munagapati
Jan 6, 2021·Archives of Sexual Behavior·Paul J Wright
May 15, 2021·Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy·Yanyan ZhouBryant Paul
Oct 27, 2021·Health Communication·Paul J WrightRobert S Tokunaga
Nov 17, 2021·Journal of Interpersonal Violence·Katherine Jongsma, Patti Timmons Fritz

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