Sexual norms define perceptions of who is acceptable to partner with, how many partners are appropriate, and what sexual behaviors are acceptable to engage in. This shapes, in part, who has access to sexual pleasure and who is minoritized based on their sexuality. Though well theorized and researched for “in-person” sexuality, much less is known about sexual norms in other contexts/modalities, such as porn use and sexual fantasy, or how norms connect across these contexts. In the present study, we investigated sexual norms in porn, fantasy, and in-person sexuality, and similarities or differences between these. In an online study, gender/sex and sexually diverse participants (N = 706) manipulated digital circles representing porn use, sexual fantasy, and in-person sexuality. They used circle overlap to represent branchedness (i.e., distinction) and coincidence (i.e., similarity) in norm content, and circle size to indicate perceived norm strength. We found evidence that norm content was perceived to be more branched (i.e., distinct) than coincident (similar) and that norm strength for each context was high. This provides evidence that when people engage in each of these sexual contexts, they tend to do so through distinct normative lenses, rather than a singular lens that represents a universal set of norms applying across all sexual situations. This has implications for how we understand the associations between porn use, fantasy, and in-person sexuality, and highlights the importance of attending to sexuality in context.

性规范定义了对谁是可以接受的伴侣、多少个伴侣是合适的以及可以进行哪些性行为的看法。这在一定程度上决定了谁可以获得性快感，以及谁因性取向而受到少数群体的影响。尽管对“面对面”性行为进行了充分的理论和研究，但人们对其他背景/方式中的性规范（例如色情使用和性幻想，或者规范如何在这些背景下相互联系）知之甚少。在本研究中，我们调查了色情、幻想和面对面的性行为中的性规范，以及它们之间的异同。在一项在线研究中，性别和性别多样化的参与者（N  = 706）操纵代表色情使用、性幻想和面对面性行为的数字圈子。他们使用圆圈重叠来表示规范内容中的分支性（即区别）和重合性（即相似性），并使用圆圈大小来表示感知的规范强度。我们发现证据表明，规范内容被认为更加分支（即不同）而不是一致（相似），并且每个上下文的规范强度都很高。这提供了证据，表明当人们参与这些性情境时，他们倾向于通过不同的规范视角来进行，而不是通过代表适用于所有性情境的一套通用规范的单一视角来进行。这对我们如何理解色情内容、幻想和面对面的性行为之间的联系产生了影响，并强调了在情境中关注性行为的重要性。