Understanding and Predicting Classes of College Students Who Use Pornography
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2017 in Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 66, pp. 114-121
KEY FINDINGS
- This study identified unique classifications of pornography users among college students based on their use patterns of pornography.
- Different patterns of pornography use were found to be related to users' levels of self-esteem.
ABSTRACT
Despite the widespread acceptance and use of pornography, much remains unknown about the heterogeneity among consumers of pornography. Using a sample of 457 college students from a mid-western university in the United States, a latent profile analysis was conducted to identify unique classifications of pornography users considering motivations of pornography use, level of pornography use, age of user, degree of pornography acceptance, and religiosity. Results indicated three classes of pornography users: Porn Abstainers... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "The purpose of this study was to identify unique classes of pornography users and to identify potential predictors of being in one class relative to another. This was tested in a sample of 457 college students using a latent profile analysis and multinomial logistic regression. As, expected, three distinct classes or groups of pornography users were identified based upon pornography acceptance and use, motivations for pornography use, religiosity, and age. The three classes were labeled Porn Abstainers (62%), Complex Porn Users (19%), and Auto-Erotic Porn Users (19%). Also as expected, those in classes using less pornography tended to be women and those with higher self-esteem. Surprisingly, college students in a relationship, compared to those were single, were more likely to be in the class of Auto-Erotic Porn Users relative to the class of Porn Abstainers."
- "A second storyline among all three classes is that using pornography to avoid uncomfortable emotions and turning to pornography when feeling down, sad, or lonely, had some of the lowest reports for all three classes. This illustrates that although many college students are using pornography for sexual arousal, physical pleasure, and assistance in masturbation as illustrated in two of the three classes, few even among high users are using it as a tool to escape or self-soothe."
