Exploratory Findings on U.S. Adolescents’ Pornography Use, Dominant Behavior, and Sexual Satisfaction

Abstract

Objectives: Sexual satisfaction is an important component of sexual health and wellbeing across the life course, including adolescence. While research on pornography use and sexual satisfaction has become increasingly common, the vast majority of studies have focused on adults. An additional limitation of studies to date is a lack of assessment of mediating mechanisms.

Methods: To help address these gaps in the literature, this study used data from a population-based probability survey of U.S. adolescents to assess whether an increased likelihood of engaging in dominant sexual behaviors such as choking, spanking, and name calling was a possible mediator.

Results: Path analytic results supported a conceptual model whereby youth with greater exposure to pornography are more likely to engage in sexually dominant behaviors, distancing them from their partners, and reducing their sense of sexual satisfaction.

Conclusion: These results, while preliminary due to a small analytical sample and cross-sectional design, should serve as a springboard for larger-scale efforts in this important area of human sexuality.

Keywords:

• Pornography
• sexual satisfaction
• sexual health
• dominance
• ₃AM

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the following for their generous support of our research: Julie Parker Benello, Abigail E. Disney, Natasha and David Dolby, Embrey Family Foundation, The Fledgling Fund, Ruth Ann Harnisch and The Harnisch Foundation, Chandra Jessee, Suzanne Lerner, Cristina Ljungberg, Ann Lovell, Nion McEvoy, Regina K. Scully, Artemis Rising Foundation, Lindsey Taylor Wood and Jacki Zehner. We are also grateful to Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus, and Rashida Jones for their participation in survey development, including their review and feedback on survey drafts.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1 Although these behaviors do not necessarily result in emotional distancing, especially among sexually experienced adults with strong sexual self-concepts and communication skills, we hypothesize that this is the most likely outcome among adolescents.

2 Three post hoc analyses were conducted at the request of a reviewer. In the first analysis, one item from the pornography (i.e., amateur) and one item from the sexually dominant behaviors (i.e., name calling) measures were removed to see if parameter estimates of the models changed. The revised model fit the data well, χ²(1) = 1.01, p = 0.32, CFI > 0.99, RMSEA = 0.01, 90% CI [0.00, 0.28], SRMR = 0.03. Pornography consumption remained a predictor of sexually dominant behaviors (β = 0.52, SE = 0.08, p < 0.001), which in turn was associated with lower sexual satisfaction (β = –0.35, SE = 0.09, p < 0.001). The indirect effect representing mediation also remained significant (b = –0.08, SE = 0.02, p = 0.002). The subsequent analyses included several control variables (i.e., age, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation) in the original and revised models to determine whether their inclusion would affect the hypothesized path estimates (see Wright, 2021a, for a critique of control variable usage in pornography effects research). The control variables were modeled as predictors of the sexually dominant behaviors and sexual satisfaction constructs. In the original model reported in the main analysis, the inclusion of the control variables did not substantively affect model fit, χ²(1) = 0.40, p = 0.53, CFI > 0.99, RMSEA = 0.01, 90% CI [0.00, 0.24], SRMR = 0.01. Pornography consumption was positively associated with sexually dominant behaviors (β = 0.48, SE = 0.09, p < 0.001), which was then negatively associated with sexual satisfaction (β = –0.39, SE = 0.10, p < 0.001). The indirect effect of pornography consumption on sexual satisfaction through sexually dominant behaviors, with the control variables manifest, was significant (b = –0.07, SE = 0.03, p = 0.005). Finally, the control variables were added to the revised model. The model satisfactorily fit the data, χ²(1) = 0.70, p = 0.40, CFI > 0.99, RMSEA = 0.01, 90% CI [0.00, 0.26], SRMR = 0.01. Pornography consumption predicted sexually dominant behaviors (β = 0.47, SE = 0.10, p < 0.001), and these dominant behaviors subsequently predicted lower sexual satisfaction (β = –0.38, SE = 0.10, p < 0.001). The mediation result in this model was similar to the other models (b = –0.08, SE = 0.03, p = 0.06).

3 A reviewer also suggested that future focus group studies ask teenagers to describe and rank sexual behaviors that they feel are most and least dominant.