Abstract

Pornography’s effects have received renewed attention, with particular concern about how viewing impacts committed partner relationships. Given that secrecy and deception about pornography viewing are linked with negative relationship outcomes, we sought to identify variables associated with persons’ endorsement of hiding it. We explored this in two studies. Results from a regression analysis suggest that consumer moral disapproval of pornography and experiences of shame were associated with hiding behavior. Results from a path analysis suggest that the positive relationship between sexual conservatism and endorsement of hiding viewing from one’s committed partner is mediated by both moral incongruence (associated with viewing) and perception that pornography causes a host of harms. Persons with moral qualms related to their viewing were especially likely to endorse hiding it if they were shame-prone. These findings point to the importance of sexual values and shame in relation to persons hiding their viewing; they also suggest that individuals who internalize messaging that pornography causes serious harms are more likely to keep their viewing secret. This suggests that practitioners, policymakers, and advocates need to be circumspect about their messaging, avoiding shame-inducing rhetoric, while keeping in mind the centrality of people’s values in informing attitudes and behaviors about pornography.

摘要

色情的影响再次受到关注，特别关注观看如何影响承诺的合作伙伴关系。鉴于色情观看的保密和欺骗与负面关系结果有关，我们试图确定与人们认可隐藏色情内容相关的变量。我们在两项研究中对此进行了探讨。回归分析的结果表明，消费者对色情内容的道德反对和羞耻经历与隐藏行为有关。路径分析的结果表明，性保守主义与支持隐瞒自己忠诚的伴侣的观看之间的积极关系是由道德不一致（与观看相关）和色情会导致许多危害的看法所介导的。与观看有关的道德疑虑的人如果容易感到羞耻，则特别可能支持隐藏它。这些发现表明，性价值观和羞耻感对于隐藏观看的人的重要性；他们还表明，将色情内容造成严重危害的信息内化的个人更有可能保守他们的观看秘密。这表明从业者、政策制定者和倡导者需要谨慎对待他们的信息，避免引起羞耻的言论，同时牢记人们价值观在告知人们对色情的态度和行为方面的中心地位。他们还表明，将色情内容造成严重危害的信息内化的个人更有可能保守他们的观看秘密。这表明从业者、政策制定者和倡导者需要谨慎对待他们的信息，避免引起羞耻的言论，同时牢记人们价值观在告知人们对色情的态度和行为方面的中心地位。他们还表明，将色情内容造成严重危害的信息内化的个人更有可能保守他们的观看秘密。这表明从业者、政策制定者和倡导者需要谨慎对待他们的信息，避免引起羞耻的言论，同时牢记人们价值观在告知人们对色情的态度和行为方面的中心地位。