Secrecy and deception: values, shame, and endorsement of hiding one’s pornography viewing

Abstract

Pornography’s effects have received renewed attention, with particular concern about how viewing impacts committed partner relationships. Given that secrecy and deception about pornography viewing are linked with negative relationship outcomes, we sought to identify variables associated with persons’ endorsement of hiding it. We explored this in two studies. Results from a regression analysis suggest that consumer moral disapproval of pornography and experiences of shame were associated with hiding behavior. Results from a path analysis suggest that the positive relationship between sexual conservatism and endorsement of hiding viewing from one’s committed partner is mediated by both moral incongruence (associated with viewing) and perception that pornography causes a host of harms. Persons with moral qualms related to their viewing were especially likely to endorse hiding it if they were shame-prone. These findings point to the importance of sexual values and shame in relation to persons hiding their viewing; they also suggest that individuals who internalize messaging that pornography causes serious harms are more likely to keep their viewing secret. This suggests that practitioners, policymakers, and advocates need to be circumspect about their messaging, avoiding shame-inducing rhetoric, while keeping in mind the centrality of people’s values in informing attitudes and behaviors about pornography.

Keywords:

• Pornography
• sexuality
• relationships
• marriage
• public health

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors affirm this manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Both studies were approved as exempt: the first by the Bowling Green State University Institutional Review Board and the second by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (ref. #00120625).

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian A. Droubay

Brian A. Droubay is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at Utah State University. His research centers on the intersection of sexuality, religion and values, and clinical practice.

Kevin Shafer

Kevin Shafer is an associate professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University and an adjunct associate professor of Health & Society at McMaster University. His research focuses on mental health and family.

Rashun J. Miles

Rashun J. Miles is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Social Work at the University of Mississippi. His research interests include compassion fatigue, empathy, and museology.

Robert P. Butters

Robert P. Butters is the clinical director at LifeMatters Counseling and Health Center. His research focuses on clinical practice, domestic violence, and criminal justice.

Joshua B. Grubbs

Joshua B. Grubbs is an assistant professor in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program in the Department of Psychology at Bowling Green State University. His research generally focuses on the experience and expression of behavioral dysregulation and the social construction of addiction and addictive processes.