What types of pornographic content are people using? A mixed-method analysis that highlights differences by gender and relationship context of use

Abstract

Although content differences in pornography play an acknowledged role in many theories concerning the use and consequences of such material, relatively few studies have attempted to describe and understand the use of different types of pornography. To begin to address this gap, N = 367 participants who were in predominately mixed-sex relationships were asked open-ended questions about the pornography they used alone and the pornography they used with a romantic partner. A mixed-methods analysis employing both thematic analysis and content analysis to the same set of responses indicated that participants’ responses frequently focused on the gender of the performers, the sexual behaviors they engaged in, and the number of performers present in the pornography they watched. Other content features ranging from the presence of BDSM and rough sex to the race of performers were also mentioned by participants but to a lesser extent. Exploratory quantitative analyses indicated that the content of shared pornography use was more mono- and heteronormative than the content of solitary pornography use. Also, gender differences in the content of pornography tended to be more accentuated with respect to solitary pornography use than shared pornography use. The findings confirm that men and women may be using different kinds of pornography when they use it alone and are the first to suggest that consumers may be using different materials when they use pornography alone than when they use it with a partner. The results of the current study reinforce the importance of adopting content-specific measures of pornography use and suggest a potential avenue for conceptualizing a new taxonomic system for organizing pornographic materials.