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

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 and preregistration would be welcome.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:23

Enthalten in:

Trauma, violence & abuse - 23(2022), 1 vom: 04. Jan., Seite 278-287

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ferguson, Christopher J [VerfasserIn]
Hartley, Richard D [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Domestic violence
Journal Article
Meta-Analysis
Pornography
Rape
Sexual aggression

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 27.01.2022

Date Revised 27.01.2022

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1177/1524838020942754

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM312679807