Abstract
The extent to which personality and individual differences predict preferences for and choices of various forms of sexual media was examined. Personality (e.g., intelligence, aggression) and individual difference factors (e.g., prior sexual experience) were assessed in 160 undergraduate men. These men also indicated their preferences for and choices of various forms of sexual media (e.g., “erotic,” female insatiability, violent). As expected, individual differences were predictive, with, for example, men lower in intelligence and higher in aggressive/antisocial tendencies having a higher preference for violent sexual stimuli than men higher in intelligence and lower in aggressive/antisocial tendencies had. In addition, as much as 50% of the variation in the preference for violent sexual materials was accounted for by an additive combination of individual differences and self-report arousal to these materials. Finally, the results indicated that, when given a choice to view different media materials, the men chose a broad range of media materials, although the “female insatiability” films were more popular than the other sexual films (e.g., “erotic” or violent). Results are discussed in relation to recent research and psychological theories that view adults as active in choosing their own social environments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Barnes, G. E., Malamuth, N. M., and Check, J. V. P. (1984a). Personality and sexuality. Pers. Indiv. Diff. 5: 159–172.
Barnes, G. E., Malamuth, N. M., and Check, J. V. P. (1984b). Psychoticism and sexual arousal to rape depictions. Pers. Indiv. Diff. 5: 273–279.
Becker, M. A., and Byrne, D. (1985). Self-regulated exposure to erotica, recall errors and subjective reactions as a function of erotophobia and Type A coronary prone behavior. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 48: 760–767.
Bentler, P. M. (1989). EQS: Structural Equation Program Manual, BMDP Statistical Software, Inc., University of California, Los Angeles.
Bogaert, A. F. (1993). The Sexual Media: The Role of the Sexual Media. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Bogaert, A. F. (1996). Volunteer bias in males: Evidence for both personality and sexuality differences. Arch. Sex. Behav. 25: 125–140.
Bogaert, A. F., Woodard, U., and Hafer, C. L. (1999). Intelligence as a moderator of antisocial pornography effects. J. Sex Res. 36: 283–291.
Brosius, H.-B., Weaver, J. W., and Staub, J. (1993) Exploring the social and sexual “reality” of contemporary pornography. J. Sex Res. 30: 161–170.
Brown, D., and Bryant, J. (1989). The manifest content of pornography. In Zillmann, D., and Bryant, J. (eds.), Pornography: Research Advances and Policy Considerations, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 3–24.
Burgess, A. W. (1984). Child Pornography and Sex Rings, Lexington Books, DC Heath, Lexington, MA.
Burnett, J. J. (1991). Examining media habits of the affluent elderly. J. Advert. Res. 31: 33–41.
Buss, D. (1984). Toward a psychology of person-environment (PE) correlation: The role of spouse selection. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 47: 361–377.
Buss, D. M., and Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychol. Rev. 100: 204–232.
Christie, R., and Geis, F. C. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism, Academic Press, New York.
Claridge, G. (1983). The Eysenck Psychoticism Scale. In Butcher, J. N., and Speilberger, C. D. (eds.), Advances in Personality Assessment, Vol. 2, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 71–114.
Cohen, J., and Cohen, P. (1983). Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Ed., Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Cowen, G., Lee, C., Levy, D., and Snyder, D. (1988). Dominance and inequality in X-rated videocassettes. Psychol. Women Quart. 12: 299–311.
Donnerstein, E., and Berkowitz, L. (1981). Victim reactions in aggressive erotic films as a factor in violence against women. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 41: 710–724.
Epstein, S. (1979). On stability of behaviour: I. On predicting most of the people much of the time. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 37: 1097–1126.
Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1976). Psychoticism as a Personality Dimension, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Fisher, W. A., Byrne, D., White, L., and Kelley, K. (1988). Erotophobia-erotophilia as a dimension of personality. J. Res. Pers. 25: 123–151.
Giancola, P. R., and Zeichner, A. (1994). Intellectual ability and aggressive behavior in nonclinical-nonforensic males. J. Psychopathology Beh. Assess. 16: 121–130.
Greendlinger, V., and Byrne, D. (1987). Coercive sexual fantasies of college men as predictors of self-reported likelihood of rape and overt sexual aggression. J. Sex Res. 23: 1–11.
Groth, A. N. (1979). Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender, Plenum Press, New York.
Hill, T. D., and Jackson, D. N. (1984). Brief form of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB). (Research Bulletin No. 617), University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Huesmann, L. R. (1988). An information processing model for the development of aggression. Aggressive Beh. 14: 13–24.
Huesmann, L. R., Eron, L., and Yarmel, P. W. (1987). Intellectual functioning and aggression. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 52: 232–240.
Jackson, D. N. (1984a). Personality Research Form Manual, Research Psychologists Press, Port Huron, MI.
Jackson, D. N. (1984b). Multidimensional Aptitude Battery Manual, Research Psychologists Press, Port Huron, MI.
Jacobvitz, R. S., Wood, M. R., and Albin, K. (1991). Cognitive skills and young children's comprehension of television. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 12: 219–235.
Kelley, K., and Musialowski, D. (1986). Repeated exposure to sexually explicit stimuli: Novelty, sex, and sexual attitudes. Arch. Sex. Behav. 15: 487–498.
MacKinnon, C. (1983). Feminism, marxism, method, and the state: Toward feminist jurisprudence. Signs 8: 635–658.
Malamuth, N. M. (1981). Rape fantasies as a function of exposure to violent sexual stimuli. Arch. Sex. Behav. 10: 33–47.
Malamuth, N. M. (1986). Predictors of naturalistic sexual aggression. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 50: 953–962.
Malamuth, N. M. (1989a). The Attraction to Sexual Aggression Scale: Part 1. J. Sex Res. 26: 26–49.
Malamuth, N. M. (1989b). The Attraction to Sexual Aggression Scale: Part 2. J. Sex Res. 26: 324–354.
Malamuth, N. M., and Check, J. V. P. (1983). Sexual arousal to rape depictions. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 92: 55–67.
Malamuth, N. M., and McIlwraith, R. D. (1988). Fantasies and exposure to sexually explicit material. Commun. Res. 15: 753–771.
Matacin, M. L., and Burger, J. M. (1987). A content analysis of sexual themes in Playboy cartoons. Sex Roles 17: 179–186.
McIlwraith, R. D., and Josephson, W. L. (1985). Movies, books, music, and adult fantasy life. J. Commun. 35: 167–179.
Money, J. (1986). Lovemaps, Irvington Press, New York.
Mosher, D. L. (1988). Pornography defined: Sexual involvement theory, narrative context, and “goodness-of fit.” J. Psychol. Hum. Sex. 1: 67–85.
Mosher, D. L., and Anderson, R. D. (1986). Macho personality, sexual aggression, and reactions to guided imagery of realistic rape. J. Res. Pers. 20: 77–94.
Mosher, D. L., and Sirkin, M. (1984). Measuring a macho personality constellation. J. Res. Pers. 18: 150–163.
Plomin, R. C., and Bergeman, C. S. (1991). The nature of nurture: Genetic influences on “environmental” effects. Beh. Brain Sci. 14: 705–732.
Plomin, R. C., Defries, J. C., and Loehlin, J. C. (1977). Genotype-environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior. Psychol. Bull. 84: 309–322.
Reifler, C. B., Howard, J., Lipton, M. A., Liptzin, M. B., and Widmann, D. E. (1971). Pornography: An experimental study of effects. Am. J. Psych. 128: 575–582.
Saunders, D. M., Fisher, W. A., Hewitt, E. C., and Clayton, J. P. (1985). A method for empirically assessing volunteer selection effects: Recruitment procedures and responses to erotica. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 49: 1703–1712.
Scarr, S., and McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype environment effects. Child Dev. 43: 424–435.
Shepher, J., and Reisman, J. (1985). Pornography: A sociobiological attempt at understanding. Ethol. Sociobiol. 6: 103–114.
Snyder, M., and Ickes, W. (1985). Personality and social psychology. In Lindsey, G., and Aronson, E. (eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol II, 3rd Ed., Random House, New York, pp. 883–943.
Tamborini, R., Stiff, J., and Zillmann, D. (1987). Preference for graphic horror featuring male versus female victimization. Hum. Commun. Res. 13: 529–552.
Videolog. (1991). Trade Service Corporation, San Diego, CA.
Winick, C. (1971). A study of consumers of explicitly sexual materials: Some functions served by adult movies. In Technical Reports of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, Vol. 4, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, pp. 245–262
Zillmann, D., and Bryant, J. (1986). Shifting preferences in pornography consumption. Commun. Res. 13: 560–578.
Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Zuckerman, M., and Litle, P. (1986). Personality and curiosity about morbid and sexual events. Pers. Indiv. Diff. 7: 49–56.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bogaert, A.F. Personality, Individual Differences, and Preferences for the Sexual Media. Arch Sex Behav 30, 29–53 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026416723291
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026416723291