PORNOGRAPHY AND SEXUAL AGGRESSION - ASSOCIATIONS OF VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT DEPICTIONS WITH RAPE AND RAPE PROCLIVITY

The current research on the relationship between pornography and sexua l violence has produced mixed findings. Some studies show a connection between violent depictions and rape, while others examining nonviolen t sexual material report inconsistent findings or no effects. This pap er examines the potential connection between rape and rape proclivity and use of soft-core pornography and three types of hard-core pornogra phy: nonviolent pornography, violent pornography, and rape pornography . Data collected from a sample of 515 college men indicated strong biv ariate associations of rape and rape proclivity with use of almost all forms of pornography. Multivariate analysis indicated that the strong est correlates of sexual coercion and aggression, as well as rape proc livity, were exposure to hard-core violent and rape pornography. Expos ure to nonviolent hard-core pornography displayed no association net o f the other variables. Exposure to soft-core pornography was positivel y associated with likelihood of sexual force and nonviolent coercive b ehavior, but negatively associated with likelihood of rape and actual rape behavior.