Skip to main content
Download PDF

Is sexual attraction and place of origin a moderator of sex in pornography consumption? Cross-sectional study on a representative sample of young adults

BMC Public Health volume 23, Article number: 1347 (2023) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Pornography consumption is higher in men, but we do not know if this association can be modified by different variables, such as sexual attraction and place of origin. Given the impact pornography has on minors, there are limited studies that analyze the use of pornography in representative samples of the adult population. The aim was analyze the prevalence and factors associated with using pornography in young adult men and women, living in Spain, with different sexual attractions and different places of birth.

Methods

Cross-sectional study with an online survey conducted with 2515 men and women aged between 18 and 35 years of age. The prevalence of pornography consumption is described and analyzed in the total sample and stratified by sex, according to socio-demographic and sexual attraction variables. The association between covariates and pornography consumption at some point in life was estimated with prevalence ratios (PR) obtained with the Poisson models of robust variance. Dependent variable: voluntarily using pornography at some point in life. Socio-demographic variables were included in the analysis: age, sex, level of education, place of birth. Sexual attraction was also analyzed.

Results

In Spain, 94.7% of men between 18 and 34 years and 74.6% of women have voluntarily used pornography at some point in their life. The mean age to start using it is earlier in men [Mean:14.2; Standard Deviation (SD):2.3]. Bisexual/homosexual attraction (reference: heterosexual) increases the probability of using pornography in women [(PR (95%CI): 1.30 (1.22; 1.38)]. Yet this is not observed in men. In both sexes, the probability of using pornography increases with age [(PR (95%CI): 1.01(1.00; 1.01)] and coming from abroad (reference: native), being the effect of country of birth significantly higher in women [(PR (95%CI): 1.17 (1.09; 1.26)] than in men [(PR (95%CI): 1.04 (1.01; 1.07).

Conclusions

Public health programmes aimed at improving affective-sexual health should consider the high use of pornography among young adults in Spain, as well as those variables that increase its use.

Peer Review reports

Background

The development of digital technologies over the last decades has prompted an almost unlimited amount of sexually explicit material to which people can access anonymously and for free [1]. In 2021, PornHub, one of the most popular pornography websites in the world, recorded 130 million daily visits. Moreover, 26% of said visits were from Spain, which is the geographic scope of this study [2].

The increased presence and accessibility of pornography in the digital sphere in recent decades has resulted in a large body of literature analyzing both the content of pornography [3, 4], user profile [5, 6], reasons for use [7] and the association of using pornography with affective-sexual thoughts, attitudes and behaviours [8,9,10]. A greater acceptance of violence and rape myths [10], more positive attitudes towards sexual coercion [11] as well as greater acceptance of violence against women by both sexes [10, 12] has been identified in pornography users. Despite these results, there are also studies showing that users of pornography sometimes consider it a non-harmful way of exploring pleasure and sexuality [13].

Although acts of explicit violence are not systematically present in pornography, symbolic violence is recurrent [14, 15]. By analyzing the most viewed online pornographic content, pornography focused on male pleasure, which represents women as a sexual object, depersonalized, fragmented and at the service of men’s desires is observed [16]. Humiliation, abuse and coercion towards women are frequent in pornography, as well as aggressive behaviours that are eroticized and to which women succumb and respond with displays of pleasure in pornography [8, 16].

Given the high impact that watching pornography can have on the affective-sexual development of younger people [17], many studies have focused on children and adolescents [17], with less analyzing adults [13, 18, 19]. Some of the reasons that lead to young people using pornography are curiosity, searching for sexual arousal and searching for information on sexual practices [20].

The prevalence of pornography use shows variability, with few studies reporting prevalence based on representative samples [18, 21, 22]. The majority of studies place prevalence of use around 85–95% in men and around 40–70% in women, both in adolescents [22] and young adults [23, 24]. In Spain, recent studies show that 98% of men and 88% of women between 18 and 25 years of age have used online pornography at some point in their life. This consumption does not significantly decrease with age both in men and women [7].

The association of sex with the use of pornography has been widely evidenced with a higher prevalence, greater frequency and earlier use among men than among women [6, 7, 18, 25, 26]. However, information on whether this association can be modified according to sociodemographic variables like sexual attraction or immigration status is limited, inconclusive and heterogeneous. Thus, most of the studies identify a greater use of pornography in homosexuals/bisexuals than in heterosexuals [16, 17, 21], but there is no consolidated evidence on the possible moderating role of sex regarding the association of sexual attraction with the use of pornography. Some studies identify an independent effect of these variables [25], while there are others that identify an association between sexual attraction and the use of pornography in men, but not women [20, 27]. Other variables, such as migratory status or country of birth and their association with using pornography, have been scarcely analyzed in comparison to ethnicity where different studies confirm the relation with consuming pornography. This is more frequent and probable in ethnic minorities [28, 29].

Identifying pornography user profiles has important consequences for public health. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies recognize an association between pornography use and victimization [11, 30] and perpetration of sexual violence [31, 32]. This association is greater when exposed to violent pornography [12, 32, 33], although there are studies that have not identified this association or display contradictory results [34, 35]. The utilization of pornography among adolescents has been linked to an increased prevalence of risky sexual behavior [36]. Furthermore, in young adults exhibiting problematic pornography consumption, a correlation has been observed with compromised sexual health, characterized by an increased probability of experiencing erectile dysfunction and reduced sexual satisfaction [37, 38]. In men, a relationship has been identified between dissatisfaction with sexual body image and the use of Internet pornography [39]. On the other hand, these results, there are also studies showing that users of pornography sometimes consider it a non-harmful way of exploring pleasure and sexuality [13]. In Spain, studies on the use of pornography are limited. The majority of them describe the pornography user, the reasons for watching pornography [7] or they analyze the problems of pornography consumption [40]. Identifying the variables associated with using pornography in the younger population (considering sex, sexual attraction, place of origin and socio-economic level) can be useful to improve the content and effectiveness of public health programmes on affective-sexual health. The aim of this study is to analyze the prevalence and factors associated with the use of pornography in young adult men and women of different sexual attractions and country of origin, but residents in Spain. The study is based on the hypothesis that the use of pornography among young adults is high and is defined both by sex, with a greater use of men, and by sexual attraction, with a greater use in homosexuals/bisexuals. Other sociodemographic characteristics of interest not explored in depth in other studies are included, such as country of birth.

Methods

Cross-sectional study using an online survey with men and women aged 18–35 residing in Spain. Detailed information on the methodology has been previously published [41]. All the participants had literacy skills. The database includes a total of 2515 records. The sample was collected from a closed panel that include 138,393 adults over the age of 16. The aim of the study design was to be representative of the non-institutionalized youth population between the ages of 18 and 35 residing in Spain, according to age, sex. Voluntary recording was not allowed. Panellists were invited by email to complete the survey. Those who accepted received (via email) an individual link to complete the online survey. Panellists received only non-survey specific incentives through a point-based rewards programme, which they could use to purchase products from different stores. Once an initial pilot study was carried out (30th September − 1st October 2020), information collection was then conducted between 15th and 28th October 2020. The response rate was 62.3%. Once the database was refined, it included information from 2,346 people (93.9%).

Variables

Main outcome

The analyzed dependent variable considers whether pornography has been consumed at some point in life. This variable was collected by asking: have you voluntarily watched pornography at some point in life? Response categories were yes/no.

Furthermore, the age at which the people began to voluntarily watch pornography was collected by asking: when did you voluntarily watch pornography for the first time? (Continuous variable).

Covariates

Based on previous articles [13, 17, 25], sociodemographic variables and sexual attraction were included as covariates.

Socio-demographic variables included: sex (man, woman), age (continuous variable), highest completed level of studies (literacy skills but no education finished, primary, secondary, further education), country of birth (Spain, abroad). People who claimed to have been born abroad were asked for the country of birth. To mitigate language-related biases, our panel specifically comprised Spanish-speaking Latin American immigrants. As all the immigrant people were born in a Latin-American country, so the variable was codified in Spain/Latin-America. Sexual attraction was collected by asking: With which of the following statements do you feel most identified? I am only attracted to women/I am usually attracted to women, but sometimes I am also attracted to men/I am equally attracted to women and men/I am usually attracted to men, but sometimes I am also attracted to women/I am only attracted to men/I am not attracted to women or men/No answer. People who stated that they were exclusively attracted to people of the same sex were included in the homosexual attraction category (gay/lesbian, according to sex); people who only claimed to be attracted to people of the other sex were classified as heterosexual. People attracted to both sexes were included in the bisexual attraction category. People who responded that they were not attracted to either sex (n = 6) were omitted from the analysis due to the small size of this group. For the regression analysis, which we describe in the next section, the variable was categorized as heterosexual/homo-bisexual.

Data analysis

First of all, the total sample is described, stratified by sex according to the previously described covariates. Below is a description of the prevalence of pornography consumption at some point in life in the total sample, stratified by sex according to socio-demographic, sexual attraction and age they started watching pornography variables. The differences in pornography consumption were obtained with the Chi-squared test. The mean differences in the age of starting to consume pornography between men and women were obtained using the F statistic derived from the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The association between covariates and pornography use at some point in life was estimated using robust variance Poisson models. Crude and subsequently adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated. In order to obtain the adjusted model, the variables that were significant in the raw model were included one by one. Regardless of the statistical significance, the models were adjusted according to level of education given their association with the use of pornography identified by other authors [13].

Interactions between sex and covariates included in the models were explored. Given the presence of interactions, the global sample model with the interactions is presented, as well as the models corresponding to the sample stratified by sex.

Results

The analyzed sample includes a total of 2346 records. Table 1 describes the total sample and stratified by sex, according to the socio-demographic and sexual attraction variables. Mean age of the surveyed people was 27.5 years. 50.2% were women, of which 11.9% had been born abroad, with 99% of the people being from Latin America. 23.9% of the surveyed women referred to being bisexual and 2.1% were only attracted to women. Regarding men, 12.7% indicate being attracted to both sexes and 10.2% are attracted only to men.

Table 1 Description of total sample and stratified by sex. Socio-demographic, sexual attraction and pornography consumption characteristics
Full size table

Table 2 describes pornography consumption at some point in life, in the total sample and stratified by sex. The frequency of pornography consumption was significantly higher in men (94.7% men; 74.6% women), in people born abroad, both women (foreign women: 85.5% vs. 72.8% Spanish women) and men (foreign men: 98.3% vs. 94.3% Spanish men), as well as non-heterosexual women (homosexual/bisexual: 89.9% vs. heterosexual: 69.2%). The mean age of when they started to watch pornography was 15.4 years of age (SD 3.5), with this age being lower in men (14.2 years) (SD 2.3) than women (17.3 years; SD 4.2).

Table 2 Description of pornography consumption at some point in life. Total sample and stratified by sex
Full size table

Tables 3 and 4 show the variables associated with pornography consumption in the total sample and stratified by sex. Table 3 includes the crude prevalence ratios and Table 4 the adjusted prevalence ratios.

Table 3 Variables associated with the use of pornography at some point in life. Poisson regression model with robust variance. Crude prevalence ratios
Full size table
Table 4 Variables associated with the use of pornography at some point in life. Poisson regression model with robust variance. Adjusted prevalence ratios
Full size table

As observed in Table 4, as age increases, the probability of pornography consumption rises, both in women [PR:1.01 IC 95% (1.00;1.02)] and men [PR:1.01 IC 95% (1.00;1.01)]. Two interactions were identified in the model, one between sex and country of birth (p < 0.01) and another between sex and sexual attraction (p < 0.001). In particular, an observation is made in the interaction of sex with country of origin (Table 4; Fig. 1a) that the probability of pornography consumption is significantly higher in people born abroad than in people born in Spain. This difference is significantly greater in women [PR: 1.17 IC95% 1.09;1.26)] than men [PR: 1.04 IC95% 1.01;1.07)]. A second interaction between sex and sexual attraction (Table 4; Fig. 1b) indicates that the probability of pornography consumption is greater in homosexual/bisexual women than heterosexual women [PR: 1.31 IC95% 1.24;1.39)], although this association between sexual attraction and pornography consumption is not seen among men [PR: 1.02 IC95% 0.99;1.05)].

Fig. 1
figure 1

Prediction of pornography use according to the interaction of the sex variable with either country of birth or sexual attraction

Full size image

Discussion

In Spain, nine out of ten men between 18 and 34 years of age and seven out of ten women in the same age range have voluntarily used pornography at some point in their life. The mean age of when they started consuming pornography is earlier in men than women, around 14 and 17 years of age, respectively. In women, bisexual and homosexual sexual attraction increases the probability of pornography use regarding heterosexual women. This association has not been identified in men. Regarding both men and women, the probability of using pornography increases with age and with the fact of being born abroad, with the effect of place of birth being significantly greater in women than in men.

The prevalence of pornography consumption at some point in life described in our study is similar to that recently identified by Ballester [7] in young Spanish adults (18–25 years old), where 98% of men and 88% of women report to having consumed online pornography. In an international context, the data is more variable, varying between 14% and 82% in women and between 63% and 100% in men [18, 25]. The different time frame of the studies, the cultural differences in the population, as well as the methodological differences between them could partly explain this heterogeneity. Despite this, the results, as in our work, are consistent in identifying a greater or earlier exposure to pornography in men and women [6, 7, 18, 25, 26]. The fact that pornography is primarily aimed at seeking pleasure in men may explain this different frequency and motivation for pornography use. In turn, this greater use of pornography among men could be a reflection of how a different socialization of men and women on gender roles is projected into a different sexuality development. Regarding men, socialization in gender roles promotes the searching for pleasure and sexual experiences, power and sexual control that coincide both with the aims of pornography as well with the use men make of. In women, socialization based on gender roles promotes to a greater extent commitment in affective-sexual relationships, empathy, interpersonal care, values that are far from those found in pornography contents [42]. In this sense, the reasons leading to using digital media for sexual purposes are different for men and women [6, 7]. Men refer to a greater extent than women seeking sexual arousal, overcoming stressful situations and/or boredom, carrying out and observing behaviours that cannot be done in their real life, as well as meeting people with whom they can have sexual contact outside the virtual environment. Women refer to a greater extent than men using pornography to learn about sex and sexuality [6, 7].

The age when people start using pornography identified in our study is similar to that identified by other authors [7, 25, 26]. An earlier use is confirmed by men, compared to women, despite men developing later. This is possibly a reflection of how the different levels of socialization between men and women influences affective-sexual development, as previously explained.

Regarding sexual attraction, evidence on the association between sexual attraction and using pornography is heterogeneous. The majority of studies confirm a greater use among homosexuals and bisexuals [18, 21, 43, 44], although there are also other studies that do not observe this association [26]. Our results identify an association between sexual attraction and the use of pornography that was statistically significant in women, but not in men. The recently published study by Giménez García [43] with young adult Spanish women shows how homosexual and bisexual women use pornography more than heterosexual women. In an international context, studies by Traen [18] evidence a positive association between homosexual and bisexual attraction and pornography consumption. However, we do not know if this association is moderated or not by sex, as observed in our results. Contrary to our results, the work published by Luder [27] conducted with Swiss teenagers, identified a higher probability of pornography use in homosexual and bisexual boys than in heterosexuals. This association was not identified in girls. There is a chance that some of these differences in the results can be related to the temporal and geographical framework of the studies, as well as changes in sexuality experiences in this period. In this sense, in our study, 24% of women indicate to having a sexual attraction to both sexes, while the latest National Sexual Health Survey carried out in Spain in 2009, this percentage among women between 35 and 44 years of age was 4.3% [45]. This greater recognition at present in bisexual women, as well as the greater probability of using pornography in non-heterosexual attractions, could reflect an unmet need for affective-sexual education that incorporates sexual attraction in its contents.

A new aspect of our work is studying the association of place of birth with consuming pornography. Our results show that the probability of using pornography is significantly higher in people born abroad than those born in Spain. This difference is also substantially higher in women than men. Studies by Mahapatra show the increased use of pornography amongst immigrant men [28], but to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that analyze the association of immigration status on the use of pornography, as well as its possibility interaction with sex. The fact that using pornography increases among people who have been away from their place of origin for a long time [28], and the greater usage probability among ethnic minorities in the USA [29], could indicate that there is a higher predisposition amongst this population possibly associated with situations of isolation, discrimination and stress. In this sense, facing stress, loneliness and boredom are the reasons people refer to using pornography [6, 7]. Furthermore, the disparity in pornography usage among women based on their birthplace may be attributed to the differences that exist in affective-sexual education and socialization around sexual roles between the Spanish and Latino American populations. The studies conducted with ethnic minorities show results in the same sense. Studies by Perry [29] analyze the association of race and sex with the use of pornography amongst the US population. The analyses show that African-American people were more likely to consume pornography than white people. In particular, black men were more likely to use pornography than all other race/gender combinations, with white women being those least likely to consume.

The limitations and strengths of this study need to be considered when interpreting our results. This is the first study in Spain to analyze the prevalence of using pornography and the factors associated with a representative sample of a young adult Spanish population. The cross-sectional design of the study does not enable to establish causal relationships, however, the analyzed variables are mostly socio-demographic, therefore, they are stable over time. Despite the analyzed sample being representative, it does not allow us to independently analyze the different categories of sexual attraction, which has led us to group homosexual and bisexual people into a single category of analysis. In relation to the birthplace, the percentage of Latin American immigrants included in our sample (11.9%), aligns closely with the estimated Latin American population of this particular age group residing in Spain (12.2%). The dependent variable we analyzed does not enable us to examine the frequency nor the type of pornography consumed nor whether or not it is violent pornography. These consumption characteristics are important given their association with affective-sexual health [20, 21, 46, 47].

Conclusions

We can conclude that consuming pornography in Spain is a frequent practice among young adults that start watching it at a young age, especially men. Regarding women, use among homosexual and bisexual women and foreign women can be outlined. The results show the importance of introducing public health programmes on affective-sexual health focusing on a multicultural approach and considering people’s sex, sexual attraction and migratory status. There is a need to promote a critical attitude towards the use of pornography given the implication that it can have in constructing men and women’s sexuality, as well as in the inequalities between women and men.

Data Availability

The datasets and material that have been produced during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request that guarantee their use according to the ethical procedures adopted in this project and participants’ informed consent documents content.

References

  1. Patel U, Roesch R. The prevalence of technology-facilitated sexual violence: a Meta-analysis and systematic review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022;23(2):428–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Pornhub. 2021 Year in Review – Pornhub Insights. Published in December 2021. Accessed in February 2023. https://www.pornhub.com/insights/yir-2021.

  3. Carrotte ER, Davis AC, Lim MS. Sexual behaviors and violence in Pornography: systematic review and narrative synthesis of video content analyses. J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22(5), e16702.

  4. Kulibert D, Moran JB, Preman S, Vannier SA, Thompson AE. Sex on the screen: a content analysis of free internet pornography depicting mixed-sex threesomes from 2012–2020. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2021;11(4):1555–70.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Carnevali D, Cavazzana L, Grimoldi L, Magnoni P, Principi N, Pellai A. The use of online pornography among minors: epidemiological analysis of the phenomenon. Minerva Pediatr (Torino). 2022;74(5):579–85.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Al Mamun MA, Yasir Arafat SM, Ambiatunnahar M, Griffiths MD. Attitudes and risk factors of Pornography Consumption among Bangladeshi University students: an exploratory study. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2018;17(2):323–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ballester-Arnal R, Castro-Calvo J, García-Barba M, Ruiz-Palomino E, Gil-Llario MD. Problematic and non-problematic engagement in online sexual activities across the lifespan. Comput Hum Behav. 2021;120:106774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS. Men’s objectifying media consumption, objectification of women, and Attitudes supportive of violence against women. Arch Sex Behav. 2016;45(4):955–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wegner R, Abbey A, Pierce J, Pegram SE, Woerner J. Sexual assault perpetrators’ Justifications for their actions: Relationships to rape supportive attitudes, incident characteristics, and future perpetration. Violence Against Women. 2015;21(8):1018–37.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Hedrick A. A Meta-analysis of media consumption and rape myth Acceptance. J Health Commun. 2021;26(9):645–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Tomaszewska P, Krahé B. Predictors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration among Polish University students: a longitudinal study. Arch Sex Behav. 2018;47(2):493–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Burnay J, Kepes S, Bushman BJ. Effects of violent and nonviolent sexualized media on aggression-related thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors: a meta-analytic review. Aggress Behav. 2022;48(1):111–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Eljawad MA, Se’eda H, Ghozy S, et al. Pornography Use Prevalence and Associated factors in Arab Countries: a multinational cross-sectional study of 15,027 individuals. J Sex Med. 2021;18(3):539–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Seida K, Shor E. Aggression and pleasure in Opposite-Sex and same-sex mainstream online pornography: a comparative content analysis of Dyadic Scenes. J Sex Res. 2021;58(3):292–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bourdieu P, Passeron J. La Reproducción. Elementos para una teoría del sistema de enseñanza. Clave Intelectual. 2022.

  16. Fritz N, Malic V, Paul B, Zhou Y. A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of Aggression in Mainstream Pornography. Arch Sex Behav. 2020;49(8):3041–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Farré JM, Montejo AL, Agulló M, et al. Pornography use in adolescents and its clinical implications. J Clin Med. 2020;9(11):3625. Published 2020 Nov 11.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Traeen B, Nilson TS. Use of pornography in traditional media and on the internet in Norway. J Sex Res. 2006;43(3):245–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Solano I, Eaton NR, O’Leary KD. Pornography consumption, modality and function in a large internet sample. J Sex Res. 2020;57(1):92–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Peter J, Valkenburg PM. Adolescents and pornography: a review of 20 years of Research. J Sex Res. 2016;53(4–5):509–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Træen B, Daneback K. The use of pornography and sexual behaviour among norwegian men and women of differing sexual orientation. Sexologies. 2013;22(2):e41–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Donevan M, Jonsson L, Bladh M, Priebe G, Fredlund C, Svedin CG. Adolescents’ Use of Pornography: Trends over a ten-year period in Sweden. Arch Sex Behav. 2022;51(2):1125–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Anisimowicz Y, O’Sullivan LF. Men’s and women’s Use and Creation of Online sexually explicit materials including fandom-related works. Arch Sex Behav. 2017;46(3):823–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. George M, Maheshwari S, Chandran S, Rao T. Psychosocial aspects of pornography. J Psychosexual Health. 2019;1:44–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lim MSC, Agius PA, Carrotte ER, Vella AM, Hellard ME. Young Australians’ use of pornography and associations with sexual risk behaviours. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2017;41(4):438–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Zohor Ali AA, Muhammad NA, Jamil TR, Ahmad S, Abd Aziz NA. Internet pornography exposures amongst young people in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study looking into the role of gender and perceived realism versus the actual sexual activities. Addict Behav Rep. 2021;14:100350.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Luder MT, Pittet I, Berchtold A, Akré C, Machaud PA, Surís JC. Associations between online pornography and sexual behavior among adolescents: myth or reality? Arch Sex Behav. 2011;40:1027–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Mahapatra B, Saggurti N. Exposure to pornographic videos and its effect on HIV-related sexual risk behaviours among male migrant workers in southern India. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(11):e113599.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Perry SL, Schleifer C. Race and Trends in Pornography Viewership, 1973–2016: examining the moderating roles of gender and Religion. J Sex Res. 2019;56(1):62–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. D’Abreu LC, Krahé B. Vulnerability to sexual victimization in female and male College students in Brazil: cross-sectional and prospective evidence. Arch Sex Behav. 2016;45(5):1101–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Waterman EA, Wesche R, Morris G, Edwards KM, Banyard VL. Prospective Associations between Pornography viewing and sexual aggression among adolescents. J Res Adolesc. 2022;32(4):1612–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Wright PJ, Tokunaga RS, Kraus A. A Meta-analysis of Pornography Consumption and actual Acts of sexual aggression in General Population Studies. J Commun. 2016;66(1):183–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Rostad WL, Gittins-Stone D, Huntington C, Rizzo CJ, Pearlman D, Orchowski L. The Association between exposure to violent pornography and teen dating violence in Grade 10 High School Students. Arch Sex Behav. 2019;48(7):2137–47.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Ferguson CJ, Hartley RD. Pornography and sexual aggression: can Meta-Analysis find a link? Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022;23(1):278–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Diamond M, Jozifkova E, Weiss P. Pornography and sex crimes in the Czech Republic. Arch Sex Behav. 2011;40(5):1037–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Yunengsih W, Setiawan A. Contribution of pornographic exposure and addiction to risky sexual behavior in adolescents. J Public Health Res. 2021;10(s1):jphr.2021.2333.

  37. Jacobs T, Geysemans B, Van Hal G, Glazemakers I, Fog-Poulsen K, Vermandel A, De Wachter S, De Win G. Associations between Online Pornography consumption and sexual dysfunction in Young Men: Multivariate Analysis based on an International web-based survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021;7(10):e32542.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Malki K, Rahm C, Öberg KG, Ueda P. Frequency of pornography use and sexual Health Outcomes in Sweden: analysis of a National Probability Survey. J Sex Med. 2021;18(10):1735–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Cranney S. Internet pornography use and sexual body image in a dutch sample. Int J Sex Health. 2015;27(3):316–23.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Castro-Calvo J, Cervigón-Carrasco V, Ballester-Arnal R, Giménez-García C. Cognitive processes related to problematic pornography use (PPU): a systematic review of experimental studies. Addict Behav Rep. 2021;13:100345.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Sanz-Barbero B, Saurina C, Serra L, Renart Vicens G, Vall-Llosera Casanovas L, Otero-García L, López MJ, Perez G, Vives-Cases C. Prevalence and associated factors with sexual violence victimisation youth before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional study in Spain. BMJ Open 2021 Nov 29;11(11):e055227.

  42. Scarcelli CM, Stella R. The mediated erotic lover. The role of pornography in the negotiation of gender roles and desire amongst italian heterosexual couples. J Gend Stud. 2020;29(4):420–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Giménez-García C, Nebot-Garcia JE, Ruiz-Palomino E, García-Barba M, Ballester-Arnal R. Spanish women and Pornography based on different sexual orientation: an analysis of Consumption, Arousal, and discomfort by sexual orientation and age. Sex Res Social Policy. 2021;19:1228–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Bőthe B, Vaillancourt-Morel MP, Girouard A, Štulhofer A, Dion J, Bergeron S. A large-scale comparison of canadian Sexual/Gender minority and heterosexual, Cisgender Adolescents’ pornography use characteristics. J Sex Med. 2020;17(6):1156–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Observatorio de Salud de las Mujeres. Encuesta Nacional de Salud Sexual. Ministerio de Sanidad. Published in 2009. Accessed on. February 2023. https://www.sanidad.gob.es/organizacion/sns/planCalidadSNS/pdf/equidad/EncuestaNacionaSaludSexual2009/resumenEjecutivoEncuestaSaludSexual_2009.pdf.

  46. Román García Ó, Bacigalupe A, Vaamonde C. Relación de la pornografía mainstream con la salud sexual y reproductiva de los/as adolescentes. Una revisión de alcance. Rev Esp Salud Pública. 2021;95. Published 2021 Aug 4. https://www.scielosp.org/pdf/resp/2021.v95/e202108102/es.

  47. Lewczuk K, Lesniak J, Lew-Starowicz M, Gola M. Variability of pornographic content consumed and Longest Session of Pornography Use Associated with Treatment seeking and problematic sexual behavior symptoms. Sex Med. 2021;9(1):100276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

To all participants from the different involved settings for their time and valuable contribution in this study.

Funding

This research was supported by the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health of Spain (Grant ESP20PI02) and by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Grant PI22CIII/00036).

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National School of Public Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Belén Sanz-Barbero

  2. CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    Belén Sanz-Barbero & Carmen Vives-Cases

  3. Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public health and History of Science Department, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    Vanesa Pérez-Martínez & Carmen Vives-Cases

  4. Sociology II Department, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    J. Francisco Estévez-García

Authors
  1. Belén Sanz-Barbero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vanesa Pérez-Martínez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Francisco Estévez-García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carmen Vives-Cases
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

BSB, FEG, VPM, CVC; Formal analysis: BSB and FEG; Funding acquisitions BSB and CVC; Software: FEG; Supervision and validation: BSB; Visualization: VPM; FEG; Writing original draft: BSB and VPM; Writing review and editing: BSB, VPM; FEG; CVC.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanesa Pérez-Martínez.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Participation was voluntary and required a signed informed consent, and it was obtained from all the participants in the study. The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by Ethics Committee of the University of Alicante (ref. UA-2020-07-07).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sanz-Barbero, B., Pérez-Martínez, V., Estévez-García, J. et al. Is sexual attraction and place of origin a moderator of sex in pornography consumption? Cross-sectional study on a representative sample of young adults. BMC Public Health 23, 1347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16216-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16216-3

Keywords

BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

Contact us