Content, Sex of Viewer, and Dispositional Variables as Predictors of Affective and Evaluative Responses to Sexually Explicit Films

Abstract

Heterosexual college students (N = 164) responded to seven scales assessing authoritarianism, general and specific sexual attitudes, and attitudes toward and fears about male and female homosexuals. On these dispositional variables, men, compared to women, expressed more erotophilic attitudes, less sex guilt, less positive attitudes about gays, and more homophobia; gender differences were not found for authoritarianism or for attitudes about lesbians or masturbation. Afterward, these research participants viewed a videotape depicting either a heterosexual, lesbian, or gay couple engaging in explicit sexual acts. Dependent measures consisted of an affective checklist and a series of evaluative judgments about the couple. In responding to the three types of erotic movie, men and women were generally similar in that the most positive affective and evaluative responses were elicited when the film content was heterosexual, and the most negative responses were expressed when a gay couple was depicted. Men were, however, more positive than women in responding to the lesbian film. The dispositional variables were consistently predictive of affective and evaluative responses to the films