What’s Porn Got to Do With It? The Role of Empathy in Sexual Violence

Written By Iona Duncan

Iona Duncan

Illustrations by Ali Adsit

Disclaimer: The following article is not meant to shame or reprimand people who use, make, or produce pornography or those who have behavioral addictions, but instead to raise awareness about a topic with profound sociological implications. 


‘Rule 34’ is the colloquial internet term for the idea that ‘if it exists, there’s porn of it’ — and indeed, you will be hard-pressed to find a fictional character, famous individual, or even company mascot that hasn’t been depicted in a sexually compromising situation, providing a perfect example of the increasingly pervasive role porn has in society [1, 2, 3, 4]. Pornography and its influence on social interactions and interpersonal relationships has been a topic of psychological and neurological research for decades [5]. The rise of the Internet as the primary mode for accessing porn has further underscored these investigations, as the web provides a near-infinite library of any type of porn [5, 6]. Research has focused on heterosexual male viewers of pornography since they typically watch more porn than women [7, 8, 9]. Particular attention is paid to the potential effects of violent pornography and its relationship with empathy, as violent porn may perpetuate harmful sexual scripts where women are expected to be hesitant and coy during sex while men are expected to behave aggressively [10, 11, 12]. Violent porn can be defined as material portraying overtly non-consensual, coercive, or physically aggressive sex [13]. In contrast, non-violent porn lacks clear instances of aggression, coercion, or explicit statements of non-consent — though the implication of unequal power dynamics remains common in pornography as a whole [11, 14, 15]. Mainstream pornography tends to feature a fair amount of casual violence against women [13, 14, 16]. An estimated 45% of videos on Pornhub.com include physical aggression, (in most instances, men hitting and choking women), potentially normalizing acts of violence against women during sex without their explicit verbal consent [17]. The titles of porn videos alone also consistently feature violent themes; as many as one in eight videos suggested to first-time users on porn sites have titles describing acts of sexual violence, such as simulated rape, incest, abuse, coercion, and physical assault [11, 14]. 

If empathy can be thought of as the capacity to identify, understand, and relate to the emotions of others, where does it fit in with the desire to watch women be degraded and physically abused in porn [18]? Frequently viewing pornography, especially violent porn, is correlated with reduced empathy in sexual contexts, which is in turn associated with an increased likelihood of perpetrating acts of sexual violence [19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. So, does watching violent or degrading porn cause empathy deficits? Or do pre-existing empathy deficits lead to the regular consumption of violent porn? It’s difficult to establish causative effect and directionality, but the absence of a direct causal relationship doesn’t necessarily rule out the existence of any relationship between pornography and empathy [25, 26]. The very existence of violent pornography necessitates that women on camera are subjected to actual violence, which the viewer justifies by objectifying the woman and rationalizing her seemingly positive response to being subjected to aggression [12, 17, 27]. Considering the potential effects of porn consumption on empathetic processing in the brain, is there a correlation between the viewer’s desire to watch violent porn and a desire to execute sexual violence?

 

Can People Be ‘Addicted’ to Porn?

“I knew [porn] was bad for me, it had a very big negative effect on my life, but I just couldn’t stop it. That’s clearly in my eyes a sign of addictive behavior.” Transcribed from an interview with an individual diagnosed with Problematic Pornography Use (PPU) [29].

While colloquial terms like sex ‘addict’ or nymphomania are familiar, the clinical facets of hypersexuality may not be as well-known [28]. Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) is characterized by frequent, uncontrollable, and repetitive sexual behaviors, harming psychological well-being and interfering with personal and occupational functioning [28]. Some examples of sexual behaviors that can become ‘addictive’ include visiting strip clubs, masturbating, and watching pornography, all of which can be an escape from loneliness, anxiety, or depression [29, 30, 31]. These behaviors persist even when they have serious negative consequences, like marital strain or STD transmission, characterizing the compulsive aspect of CSBD [29, 32, 33]. CSBD also has an impulsive aspect: the tendency to act rashly and without foresight, which is associated with an increased occurrence of sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors [34, 35]. Research commonly groups CSBD with ‘behavioral addictions’ like gambling disorder and food addiction, and so this term will be used hereafter [36, 37, 38]. 

Within the umbrella category of CSBD, frequent and uncontrollable pornography consumption is labeled as Problematic Pornography Use (PPU) [39]. PPU is characterized by the frequency of porn use and by levels of compulsivity and impulsivity comparable to symptoms of substance abuse [40, 41, 42]. In addition to behavioral similarities, ‘addictions’ like PPU also exhibit neurobiological processes similar to substance addiction, like the activation of the brain’s reward pathways responsible for motivation, reward-seeking, and reinforcement [33, 43, 34, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49]. One of the molecules involved in these reward pathways, dopamine, acts as a messenger between the cells in the reward system [49]. When someone engages in rewarding behavior like using drugs or viewing pornography, neurons release dopamine and activate surrounding neurons, further propagating the signal along the reward circuit [50, 47, 32].

It’s a common misconception that dopamine is involved in the associated pleasure or ‘liking’ of a reward, but scientific understanding actually considers it to characterize the motivational component of reward learning: the ‘wanting’ of a reward [51, 52, 53]. It may seem that liking and wanting a reward are too intertwined to be separate processes — isn’t it true that we want things because we like them? The difference can be exemplified by junk food. At one point or another, everyone wants to eat chips in bed at 9 p.m., but about halfway through the bag, the classic consequences of late-night chip consumption become apparent. Even after crossing the line from feeling full to gross, getting crumbs all over the sheets, and not really tasting the chips themselves anymore, we continue reaching into the bag and grabbing another chip. For some reason, we still want to eat ‘just one more’ chip, even though we don’t actually like eating them anymore. In this sense, we can distinguish liking and wanting something — whether it’s chips or pornography — as two distinct processes [51, 52, 53]. In people without addiction, the liking and wanting processes are typically proportionate, but in individuals with CSBD or substance use disorder, the disparity between liking and wanting is felt more intensely because they experience significantly different dopamine activity in response to rewarding experiences [54, 55, 56].  

Despite their addictive patterns of increased reward anticipation, individuals with PPU experience decreased enjoyment of sexual stimuli over time [57, 58, 44]. When anticipating the sexually rewarding experience of viewing an erotic picture, men with PPU want to see the image more than their non-addicted peers, showing higher corresponding activation of brain areas involved in the dopamine reward pathway [57, 58]. However, upon seeing the sexual photograph, men with PPU do not actually show higher rates of enjoyment than men without PPU [57, 58, 59]. The additional dopamine release during anticipation distorts how pleasurable the reward itself will be; people with addictions end up chasing an unachievable high, leading to a desire for new and different types of rewards after they find that their preferred type is no longer meeting expectations [55, 60, 61, 62, 63].

One man with PPU recounted watching increasingly extreme and violent pornography categories as his addiction progressed, explaining that “…you’re just, like, stimulating yourself with so much intense material your brain takes more and more hardcore material in order to get off” [29]. This pattern of escalating pornographic content is not only confined to individuals with PPU [64]. The changing course of porn consumption can also be seen in a sample of college students without PPU, 46% of whom reported switching to a new genre of porn after consistent porn use, and 32% of whom reported requiring more violent material to achieve sexual gratification [64]. Indeed, exposure to any unfamiliar stimuli is generally associated with a high level of dopamine release in the reward pathway in individuals with and without PPU alike [65, 66, 67]. However, men that excessively use pornography as an escape from negative emotions — as is seen in PPU — show a higher preference for novel porn than their non-addicted counterparts [62]. For example, repeated exposure to the same pornographic material leads to a significantly lower sexual interest in individuals with CSBD compared to those without CSBD [61]. Their lowered sexual interest while viewing familiar porn correlates with a decreased level of dopamine activity, suggesting that the dopamine response to the recurrent stimulus is dampened [61]. Unable to achieve the high they anticipated, individuals with PPU may chase more shocking or taboo material, even turning to content with high levels of violence, despite the guilt and disgust associated with using such content for sexual gratification [29]. 

Can You Have Empathy for an Object? The Role of Empathy in Sexualization

“Yeah, I started to prefer a woman’s physique more than who she really was.” Transcribed from an interview with an individual diagnosed with Problematic Pornography Use (PPU) [29].

How does PPU impact individuals in real sexual contexts? Like most people with PPU, individuals who frequently watch porn tend to objectify others [68, 69, 27, 20, 19]. Furthermore, people who frequently watch porn tend to engage in pornography-like sexual behavior; both men and women who watch more porn report having engaged in the degrading or aggressive acts seen in pornography more often [70, 71]. Generally, enjoying sex is positively correlated with the empathy levels of a sexual partner, presumably because empathetic individuals are more responsive to a partner’s needs and desires [72, 73]. In sexual contexts, lower measures of empathy are associated with a higher likelihood of perpetuating sexual assault, demonstrating the critical importance of empathy for healthy and positive sexual relationships [22, 74]. 

Empathy is considered to be the ability to understand and relate one’s feelings, needs, and desires to those of another person, processes that are thought to rely on hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin [18, 25]. Vasopressin and oxytocin’s regulation of empathy are integrated together in the brain pathways associated with social engagement, indicating that these hormones work together to shape social behavior in different contexts [75, 76]. Vasopressin and oxytocin typically play dichotomous roles in social behavior: while vasopressin is involved in interactions related to fear and aggression, oxytocin is considered a ‘social bonding hormone,’ as it’s thought to be involved in social interactions and sexual desire [77, 75, 78, 79]. When people are administered oxytocin, they perceive victims of criminal offenses to have experienced more harm compared to people not administered oxytocin [80, 81]. An increase in oxytocin is therefore thought to facilitate important feelings of sympathy, compassion, and concern for others [28]. Consequently, an individual with higher oxytocin levels is more willing to help a stranger in need, possibly due to oxytocin enhancing empathetic processes, like taking the emotional perspective of another person [80, 82]. 

Emotional perspective taking, or the ability to emotionally ‘put yourself in another person’s shoes,’ is one of the several distinct processes that make up empathy [83]. However, when individuals direct empathy-related processes toward sexualized women, empathy appears to be both neurologically and behaviorally suppressed [21, 84, 25]. A sexually objectified person is viewed as lacking mental and emotional experiences, so is then evaluated solely on their appearance and sexual role [27, 85, 21, 25]. Once objectified, a person is no longer a person but rather an instrument or tool for another’s use and consumption [85, 25, 86]. Since watching porn is associated with higher levels of objectification, empathy via emotional perspective-taking may be hindered as you can’t take the emotional perspective of an object [87, 19, 20, 27]. Taking the emotional perspective of others during sex is a critical component of empathy because it can facilitate concern, potentially counteracting pre-existing attitudes and behaviors associated with sexual violence and consequently influencing how much people tend to harm others in sexual contexts [88, 89, 74]. 

In a similar vein to emotional perspective-taking, another critical empathetic process is vicarious pain, or pain empathy [90]. The sensory pathway in the brain called the ‘pain matrix’ is activated not only when an individual feels pain first-hand but also when they witness another person in pain, suggesting that vicarious pain may rely on a simulation of how others feel, grounded in personal experience [91, 92, 93, 90]. However, even individuals with typical levels of empathy seem to be impaired in feeling vicarious pain for sexualized women [84]. Regardless of their individual empathy levels, people tend to believe that sexualized women feel less pain than nonsexualized women, even when both women are exposed to the same painful stimulus, showing that empathy is directly related to how much the other person is sexualized [84]. In porn, the individuals on-screen are defined almost entirely by their appearance and the sexual services they can provide to each other and, subsequently, the viewer; they become objects for the viewer’s sexual gratification [69]. Thus, pornography use and the resulting increased levels of objectification are associated with the denial of others’ mental and sensory experiences [68, 20, 84]. The denial of internal states essentially prevents empathy via emotional perspective-taking and vicarious pain, leading to the decreased empathy for sexualized women [68, 69, 20, 27, 85, 21, 84].

Is Empathy Lower in Frequent Porn Viewers? 

It remains unknown whether low empathy or frequent porn use presents first. What is known is that the two factors are linked in a detrimental relationship, such that higher porn use is correlated with lower empathy, depending on the content and frequency of the pornography watched [69, 94, 20]. When exposed to videos of degrading pornography, men tend to objectify the woman in the clip more and generate stronger hostile sexist beliefs toward her, both of which are correlated with low empathy [94, 95]. Additionally, people who often consume porn and other objectifying media are more likely to generally objectify women, exhibit attitudes supporting violence against women, and show less empathy towards victims of sexual assault [19, 20]. Specifically, men who frequently watch porn exhibit a clear association between porn, objectification, and low empathy in their cognitive processing and behavior [19, 20, 29, 63, 64, 69, 94, 95]. But does this unempathetic behavior also correlate with neurological measures of empathy? As expected, oxytocin and vasopressin hormones appear dysregulated in men with PPU [25]. As previously discussed, oxytocin levels are correlated with empathy, such that higher oxytocin is associated with higher empathy [82]. Vasopressin levels, implicated in aggressive behavior and lower measures of empathy, appear to be abnormally high in men with PPU, much higher than their oxytocin levels [25]. An imbalanced ratio of vasopressin dominating over oxytocin is associated with increased stress and social hostility [25, 96]. Since both neurological and behavioral measures of empathy are reduced in men with PPU, does this mean that these individuals are more likely to perpetrate sexual aggression [25]? 

How Does Watching Violent Porn Relate to the Perpetration of Sexual Violence?

“I think [porn] changed my mindset. Put me in a more deviant mindset. I mean it could be easier to reoffend. Because of the degradation of women. Calling them names, slapping them, objectifying.” Transcribed from an interview with an individual convicted of a sexual offense [112].

Considering the association between porn use, reduced empathy and, consequently, sexual aggression, does frequently watching porn increase the likelihood of committing acts of sexual violence [19, 20, 25]? Unfortunately, there is no simple yes or no answer to this question; instead, there are many caveats. Several factors contribute to the relationship between frequent porn use and sexual aggression, including the type of pornographic content viewed, someone’s age at their first exposure to porn, their perception of porn as realistic, and especially their empathetic traits [24, 26, 97, 98, 99]. While there is evidence for a general association between pornography consumption and increased sexually aggressive behavior, the consumption of violent porn seems to enhance this association [97, 100, 101, 102]. The objectification and subsequent dehumanization of women are strongly associated with committing acts of sexual violence, such as sexual assault via intoxication, coercion, and threat of physical force [20, 22]. 

Given the prevalence of sexual aggression in internet porn and the young age at which people are typically first exposed to porn — 13 and 15 years old for boys and girls, respectively —  access to the internet could have a significant psychological impact during critical periods of development, shaping sexual preferences [15, 29, 103, 104, 105, 106]. One facet of early exposure to violent porn can be seen in teen dating violence — adolescent boys who have seen violent pornography are two to three times more likely to report having been physically violent during sex compared to their peers [100]. This association could be linked to adolescents’ porn-driven expectations that real-life sexual interactions should mirror what they see in pornography [15, 107]. The adolescent belief that porn is authentic is especially significant given that men who perceive pornography as realistic have an increased risk of pressuring another person into having sex, even after an explicit declaration of nonconsent — likely due to the harmful sexual scripts perpetuated by mainstream porn [98]. There is also the possibility that the age of first exposure to porn is associated with a higher incidence of sexist attitudes, such as the desire to have power over women, which may translate to harmful sexual behavior [15, 108]. Additionally, when sex offenders are first exposed to porn at a younger age, they inflict more severe physical injury on their victims [105, 109, 110, 111]. Overall, the pornographic content consumed by sex offenders often reflects the real-world crimes that they commit [15, 26, 101, 110, 112].

Generally, it appears that pornography reinforces men’s tendency to be sexually aggressive toward female sexual partners, especially if men already lack empathetic traits [24, 25, 113, 114, 115, 116]. Men who exhibit animosity and low empathy toward women are thought to be high in ‘hostile masculinity,’ a mindset composed of concepts like sexual dominance and acceptance of using interpersonal violence to gain compliance within relationships [117, 118]. For instance, men who have inappropriate emotional responses — like feeling pleasure at another’s pain — have difficulty empathizing with sexual partners during sexual interactions and are significantly more likely to use aggressive strategies like lying, coercion, manipulation, and physical force to pressure someone into having sex with them [22, 23]. Men high in hostile masculinity are thought to be more likely to enact sexual violence due to their insecurity and defensiveness, which manifest in higher levels of anger and resentment toward women and a propensity to seek sexual gratification by exerting power and control over women [115, 119]. These attitudes are reflected in a higher frequency of porn consumption and the pornographic content consumed — men high in hostile masculinity are more likely to watch extreme, violent, and male-dominant porn which includes content featuring rape depictions, child pornography and sex with animals — indicating that men at high risk of sexual aggression typically consume more violent and degrading porn than low-risk men [24, 115, 116, 120]. Hostile masculinity in itself predicts a higher likelihood of perpetuating sexual aggression, but when paired with the consumption of violent porn, these characteristics are associated with a significantly increased frequency of recent physical sexual aggression [14, 113, 114, 117]. One focus of sexual assault prevention programs is to identify the men and boys at high risk for perpetrating sexual assault by assessing their pornography use [113, 121, 117].

Conclusion

The objectifying attitudes and subsequent empathy deficits associated with frequent porn use bear significant real-world consequences on people’s likelihood to enact sexual violence, the nature of supportive services offered to sexual assault victims, and the legal ramifications for their assaulters [20, 21, 22, 27, 68, 74, 84, 85, 122, 123]. Though a direct causative link between porn and empathy — and subsequently between porn and sexual violence — has not been proven, it is clear that pornography plays a significant part in the sexual fantasies, attitudes, and behavior of those who watch it [19, 20, 25, 26]. Again, this is not to say that the act of watching porn in itself increases the likelihood of committing sexual violence, but rather that we should approach sexually explicit media with a critical lens [112]. Media literacy education focusing on improving critical thinking skills surrounding sexual health topics, such as sexual violence and unrealistic expectations about sex, has shown to be much more effective in remedying harmful sexual attitudes than shaming or demonizing the consumption of porn [112, 124, 125]. Improved empathetic processing, awareness, and self-reflection may be the most powerful tools in our arsenal for combating sexual violence and the negative impacts of porn consumption [22, 112, 124, 125, 126]. 

References

  1. Berstein, S., Warburton, W., Bussey, K., & Sweller, N. (2021). “Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it...” Insights into the content choices, viewing reasons and attitudinal impact of internet pornography among young adults. Sexual Health & Compulsivity, 28(1-2), 1-28. doi:10.1080/26929953.2021.1986763

  2. Tyler, M., & Quek, K. (2016). Conceptualizing pornographication: A lack of clarity and problems for feminist analysis. Sexualization, Media, & Society, 2(2). doi:10.1177/2374623816643281

  3. Bridges, A. J., Condit, D. M., Dines, G., Johnson, J. A., & West, C. M. (2015). Introducing sexualization, media, & society. Sexualization, Media, & Society, 1(1). doi:10.1177/2374623815588763

  4. Ward, L. M. (2016). Media and sexualization: State of empirical research, 1995–2015. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4–5), 560–577. doi:10.1080/00224499.2016.1142496

  5. Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). Adolescents and pornography: A review of 20 years of research. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4–5), 509–531. doi:10.1080/00224499.2016.1143441

  6. Fisher, W. A., & Kohut, T. (2019). Reading pornography: Methodological considerations in evaluating pornography research. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 17(2), 195–209. doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.11.257

  7. Chapman, M., Dammeyer, J., Strizzi, J. M., & Hald, G. M. (2023). Using pornography, paying for sex, and violence: A Danish national survey study. The Journal of Sex Research, 1–12. doi:10.1080/00224499.2023.2280965

  8. Richters, J., de Visser, R. O., Badcock, P. B., Smith, A. M., Rissel, C., Simpson, J. M., & Grulich, A. E. (2014). Masturbation, paying for sex, and other sexual activities: The Second Australian Study of health and relationships. Sexual Health, 11(5), 461–471. doi:10.1071/sh14116

  9. Carroll, J. S., Busby, D. M., Willoughby, B. J., & Brown, C. C. (2016). The porn gap: Differences in men’s and women’s pornography patterns in couple relationships. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 16(2), 146–163. doi:10.1080/15332691.2016.1238796

  10. Marshall, E. A., & Miller, H. A. (2022). The role of sexual scripts in the relationship between pornography use and sexual coercion. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(7–8), 5519–5541. doi:10.1177/08862605221123291

  11. Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology, 61(5), 1243–1260. doi:10.1093/bjc/azab035

  12. Foubert, J. D., & Bridges, A. J. (2016). What is the attraction? Pornography use motives in relation to bystander intervention. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(20), 3071–3089. doi:10.1177/0886260515596538

  13. Hald, G. M., & Malamuth, N. N. (2014). Experimental effects of exposure to pornography: The moderating effect of personality and mediating effect of sexual arousal. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 99–109. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0291-5

  14. Shor, E. (2021). Who seeks aggression in pornography? findings from interviews with viewers. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51, 1237–1255. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02053-1

  15. Biota, I., Dosil-Santamaria, M., Mondragon, N. I., & Ozamiz-Etxebarria, N. (2022). Analyzing university students’ perceptions regarding mainstream pornography and its link to SDG5. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13), 8055. doi:10.3390/ijerph19138055

  16. Herbitter, C., Norris, A. L., Nelson, K. M., & Orchowski, L. M. (2021). Understanding associations between exposure to violent pornography and teen dating violence among female sexual minority high school students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(17–18). doi:10.1177/08862605211028314

  17. Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041–3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0

  18. Marsh, A. A. (2018). The neuroscience of empathy. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 110–115. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.12.016

  19. Wright, P. J., & Tokunaga, R. S. (2015). Men’s objectifying media consumption, objectification of women, and attitudes supportive of violence against women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(4), 955–964. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0644-8

  20. Zhou, Y., Liu, T., Yan, (Harry) Yaojun, & Paul, B. (2021). Pornography use, two forms of dehumanization, and sexual aggression: Attitudes vs. behaviors. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 47(6), 571–590. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2021.1923598

  21. Cogoni, C., Carnaghi, A., & Silani, G. (2021). Reduced shared emotional representations toward women revealing more skin. Cognition and Emotion, 35(2), 225–240. doi:10.1080/02699931.2020.1826409

  22. Levitan, J. A., & Vachon, D. D. (2021). The nuanced association between deficient empathy and sexual aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 177, 110812. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110812

  23. Štulhofer, A. (2020). Is male adolescents’ sexual aggressiveness better explained by prior pornography use or callousness? A Brief Report. Sexual Abuse, 33(3), 361–373. doi:10.1177/1079063220952777

  24. Baer, J. L., Kohut, T., & Fisher, W. A. (2015). Is pornography use associated with anti-woman sexual aggression? Re-examining the confluence model with third variable considerations. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 24(2), 160–173. doi:10.3138/cjhs.242-A6

  25. Kor, A., Djalovski, A., Potenza, M. N., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2022). Alterations in oxytocin and vasopressin in men with problematic pornography use: The role of empathy. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(1), 116–127. doi:10.1556/2006.2021.00089

  26. Johnson, S. A. (2015). The role of pornography in sexual offenses: Information for law enforcement & forensic psychologists. International Journal of Mental Health and Human Resilience, 17, 239-242.

  27. Tranchese, A., & Sugiura, L. (2021). “I don’t hate all women, just those stuck-up bitches”: How incels and mainstream pornography speak the same extreme language of misogyny. Violence Against Women, 27(14), 2709–2734. doi:10.1177/1077801221996453

  28. Kraus, S. W., Krueger, R. B., Briken, P., First, M. B., Stein, D. J., Kaplan, M. S., Voon, V., Abdo, C. H. N., Grant, J. E., Atalla, E., & Reed, G. M. (2018). Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder in the ICD‐11. World Psychiatry, 17(1), 109–110. doi:10.1002/wps.20499

  29. Hanseder, S., & Dantas, J. A. (2023). Males’ lived experience with self-perceived pornography addiction: A qualitative study of problematic porn use. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1497. doi:10.3390/ijerph20021497

  30. Cardoso, J., Ramos, C., Brito, J., & Almeida, T. C. (2023). Difficulties in emotion regulation and problematic pornography use: The mediating role of loneliness. International Journal of Sexual Health, 35(3), 481–493. doi:10.1080/19317611.2023.2224807

  31. Levi, G., Cohen, C., Kaliche, S., Sharaabi, S., Cohen, K., Tzur-Bitan, D., & Weinstein, A. (2020). Sexual addiction, compulsivity, and impulsivity among a predominantly female sample of adults who use the internet for sex. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(1), 83–92. doi:10.1556/2006.2020.00007

  32. Antons, S., Engel, J., Briken, P., Krüger, T. H. C., Brand, M., & Stark, R. (2022). Treatments and interventions for compulsive sexual behavior disorder with a focus on problematic pornography use: A preregistered systematic review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(3), 643–666. doi:10.1556/2006.2022.00061

  33. Lee, R. S., Hoppenbrouwers, S., & Franken, I. (2019). A systematic meta-review of impulsivity and compulsivity in addictive behaviors. Neuropsychology Review, 29, 14–26. doi:10.1007/s11065-019-09402-x

  34. Antons, S., & Brand, M. (2018). Trait and state impulsivity in males with tendency towards Internet-pornography-use disorder. Addictive Behaviors, 79, 171–177. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.12.029 

  35. Bőthe, B., Tóth-Király, I., Potenza, M. N., Griffiths, M. D., Orosz, G., & Demetrovics, Z. (2019). Revisiting the role of impulsivity and compulsivity in problematic sexual behaviors. The Journal of Sex Research, 56(2), 166–179. doi:10.1080/00224499.2018.1480744

  36. Rumpf, H.-J., & Montag, C. (2022). Where to put compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD)? phenomenology matters. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(2), 230–233. doi:10.1556/2006.2022.00039

  37. Brand, M., & Potenza, M. N. (2023). Behavioral addictions in the ICD-11: An important debate that is anticipated to continue for some time. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 12(3), 585–589. doi:10.1556/2006.2023.00042

  38. Adams, R. C., Sedgmond, J., Maizey, L., Chambers, C. D., & Lawrence, N. S. (2019). Food addiction: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of overeating. Nutrients, 11(9), 2086. doi:10.3390/nu11092086

  39. Ince, C., Yücel, M., Albertella, L., & Fontenelle, L. F. (2020). Exploring the clinical profile of problematic pornography use. CNS Spectrums, 26(6), 648–657. doi:10.1017/S1092852920001686

  40. Grubbs, J. B., Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Hook, J. N., & Carlisle, R. D. (2014). Transgression as addiction: Religiosity and moral disapproval as predictors of perceived addiction to pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 125–136. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0257-z

  41. Mennig, M., Tennie, S., & Barke, A. (2022). Self-perceived problematic use of online pornography is linked to clinically relevant levels of psychological distress and psychopathological symptoms. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(2), 1313–1321. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02101-w

  42. Christensen, E., Albertella, L., Chamberlain, S. R., Brydevall, M., Suo, C., Grant, J. E., Yücel, M., & Lee, R. S. C. (2024). The neurocognitive correlates of non-substance addictive behaviors. Addictive Behaviors, 150, 107904. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107904

  43. Perales, J. C., King, D. L., Navas, J. F., Schimmenti, A., Sescousse, G., Starcevic, V., van Holst, R. J., & Billieux, J. (2020). Learning to lose control: A process-based account of behavioral addiction. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 108, 771–780. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.12.025

  44. Noori, H. R., Cosa Linan, A., & Spanagel, R. (2016). Largely overlapping neuronal substrates of reactivity to drug, gambling, food and sexual cues: A comprehensive meta-analysis. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 26(9), 1419–1430. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.06.013

  45. Blinka, L., Ševčíková, A., Dreier, M., Škařupová, K., & Wölfling, K. (2022). Online sex addiction: A qualitative analysis of symptoms in treatment-seeking men. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 907549. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.907549

  46. Demetrovics, Z., Van Den Brink, W., Paksi, B., Horváth, Z., & Maraz, A. (2022). Relating compulsivity and impulsivity with severity of behavioral addictions: A dynamic interpretation of large-scale cross-sectional findings. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 831992. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.831992

  47. Cai, J., & Tong, Q. (2022). Anatomy and function of ventral tegmental area glutamate neurons. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 16, 867053. doi:10.3389/fncir.2022.867053

  48. Scofield, M. D., Heinsbroek, J. A., Gipson, C. D., Kupchik, Y. M., Spencer, S., Smith, A. C., Roberts-Wolfe, D., & Kalivas, P. W. (2016). The nucleus accumbens: Mechanisms of addiction across drug classes reflect the importance of glutamate homeostasis. Pharmacological Reviews, 68(3), 816–871. doi:10.1124/pr.116.012484

  49. Love, T. M. (2014). Oxytocin, motivation and the role of dopamine. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 119, 49–60. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2013.06.011

  50. Nestler, E. J., & Lüscher, C. (2019). The molecular basis of drug addiction: Linking epigenetic to synaptic and circuit mechanisms. Neuron, 102(1), 48–59. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.016

  51. Olney, J. J., Warlow, S. M., Naffziger, E. E., & Berridge, K. C. (2018). Current perspectives on incentive salience and applications to clinical disorders. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 22, 59–69. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.007

  52. Kowalewska, E., Grubbs, J. B., Potenza, M. N., Gola, M., Draps, M., & Kraus, S. W. (2018). Neurocognitive mechanisms in compulsive sexual behavior disorder. Current Sexual Health Reports, 10(4), 255–264. doi:10.1007/s11930-018-0176-z

  53. Becker, S., Bräscher, A.-K., Bannister, S., Bensafi, M., Calma-Birling, D., Chan, R. C. K., Eerola, T., Ellingsen, D.-M., Ferdenzi, C., Hanson, J. L., Joffily, M., Lidhar, N. K., Lowe, L. J., Martin, L. J., Musser, E. D., Noll-Hussong, M., Olino, T. M., Pintos Lobo, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The role of hedonics in the human affectome. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 102, 221–241. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.003

  54. Grigutsch, L. A., Lewe, G., Rothermund, K., & Koranyi, N. (2019). Implicit ‘wanting’ without implicit ‘liking’: A test of incentive-sensitization-theory in the context of smoking addiction using the wanting-implicit-association-test (W-IAT). Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 64, 9–14. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.01.002

  55. Linnet, J. (2014). Neurobiological underpinnings of reward anticipation and outcome evaluation in gambling disorder. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00100

  56. Antons, S., Brand, M., & Potenza, M. N. (2020). Neurobiology of cue-reactivity, craving, and inhibitory control in non-substance addictive behaviors. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 415, 116952. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2020.116952 

  57. Gola, M., Wordecha, M., Sescousse, G., Lew-Starowicz, M., Kossowski, B., Wypych, M., Makeig, S., Potenza, M. N., & Marchewka, A. (2017). Can pornography be addictive? An fMRI study of men seeking treatment for problematic pornography Use. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(10), 2021–2031. doi:10.1038/npp.2017.78

  58. Voon, V., Mole, T. B., Banca, P., Porter, L., Morris, L., Mitchell, S., Lapa, T. R., Karr, J., Harrison, N. A., Potenza, M. N., & Irvine, M. (2014). Neural correlates of sexual cue reactivity in individuals with and without compulsive sexual behaviours. PLOS ONE, 9(7), e102419. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102419

  59. Christensen, E., Albertella, L., Chamberlain, S. R., Brydevall, M., Suo, C., Grant, J. E., Yücel, M., & Lee, R. S. C. (2024). The neurocognitive correlates of non-substance addictive behaviors. Addictive Behaviors, 150, 107904. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107904

  60. Bornstein, A. M., & Pickard, H. (2020). “Chasing the first high”: Memory sampling in drug choice. Neuropsychopharmacology, 45(6), 907–915. doi:10.1038/s41386-019-0594-2

  61. Banca, P., Morris, L. S., Mitchell, S., Harrison, N. A., Potenza, M. N., & Voon, V. (2016). Novelty, conditioning and attentional bias to sexual rewards. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 72, 91–101. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.10.017

  62. Wang, J., Chen, Y., & Zhang, H. (2022). Electrophysiological evidence of enhanced processing of novel pornographic images in individuals with tendencies toward problematic internet pornography use. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16, 897536. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2022.897536

  63. Kühn, S., & Gallinat, J. (2014). Brain structure and functional connectivity associated with pornography consumption. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(7), 827–834. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.93

  64. Dwulit, A. D., & Rzymski, P. (2019). Prevalence, patterns and self-perceived effects of pornography consumption in Polish university students: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), 1861. doi:10.3390/ijerph16101861

  65. Egecioglu, E., Prieto‐Garcia, L., Studer, E., Westberg, L., & Jerlhag, E. (2016). The role of ghrelin signalling for sexual behaviour in male mice. Addiction Biology, 21(2), 348–359. doi:10.1111/adb.12202

  66. Park, B., Wilson, G., Berger, J., Christman, M., Reina, B., Bishop, F., Klam, W., & Doan, A. (2016). Is internet pornography causing sexual dysfunctions? A review with clinical reports. Behavioral Sciences, 6(3), 17. doi:10.3390/bs6030017

  67. Costa, V. D., Tran, V. L., Turchi, J., & Averbeck, B. B. (2014). Dopamine modulates novelty seeking behavior during decision making. Behavioral Neuroscience, 128(5), 556–566. doi:10.1037/a0037128

  68. Mikorski, R., & Szymanski, D. M. (2017). Masculine norms, peer group, pornography, Facebook, and men’s sexual objectification of women. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 18(4), 257–267. doi:10.1037/men0000058

  69. Bridges, A. J., Willis, M., Ezzell, M. B., Sun, C.F., Johnson, J. A., & Wright, P. J. (2024). Pornography use and sexual objectification of others. Violence Against Women, 30(1), 228–248. doi:10.1177/10778012231207041

  70. Ezzell, M. B., Johnson, J. A., Bridges, A. J., & Sun, C. F. (2020). I (dis)like it like that: Gender, pornography, and liking sex. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 46(5), 460–473. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2020.1758860

  71. Bridges, A. J., Sun, C. F., Ezzell, M. B., & Johnson, J. (2016). Sexual scripts and the sexual behavior of men and women who use pornography. Sexualization, Media, & Society, 2(4). doi:10.1177/2374623816668275

  72. Impett, E. A., Muise, A., & Rosen, N. O. (2015). Is it good to be giving in the bedroom? A prosocial perspective on sexual health and well-being in romantic relationships. Current Sexual Health Reports, 7, 180–190. doi:10.1007/s11930-015-0055-9

  73. Acevedo, B. P., Poulin, M. J., Geher, G., Grafton, S., & Brown, L. L. (2019). The neural and genetic correlates of satisfying sexual activity in heterosexual pair‐bonds. Brain and Behavior, 9(6). doi:10.1002/brb3.1289

  74. Hudson-Flege, M. D., Grover, H. M., Meçe, M. H., Ramos, A. K., & Thompson, M. P. (2020). Empathy as a moderator of sexual violence perpetration risk factors among college men. Journal of American College Health, 68(2), 139–147. doi:10.1080/07448481.2018.1536055

  75. Carter, C. S. (2017). The oxytocin–vasopressin pathway in the context of love and fear. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 8. doi:10.3389/fendo.2017.00356

  76. de Jong, T. R., & Neumann, I. D. (2017). Oxytocin and aggression. Behavioral Pharmacology of Neuropeptides: Oxytocin, 175–192. doi:10.1007/7854_2017_13

  77.  Sparapani, S., Millet-Boureima, C., Oliver, J., Mu, K., Hadavi, P., Kalostian, T., Ali, N., Avelar, C. M., Bardies, M., Barrow, B., Benedikt, M., Biancardi, G., Bindra, R., Bui, L., Chihab, Z., Cossitt, A., Costa, J., Daigneault, T., Dault, J., Davidson, I., Dias, J., Dufour, E., El-Khoury, S., Farhangdoost, N., Forget, A., Fox, A., Gebrael, M., Gentile, M.C., Geraci, O., Gnanapragasam, A., Gomah, E., Haber, E., Hamel, C., Iyanker, T., Kalantzis, C., Kamali, S., Kassardjian, E., Kontos, H.K., Uven Le. T.B., LoScerbo, D., Low, Y.F., Mac Rae, D., Maurer, F., Mazhar, S., Nguyen, A., Nguyen-Duong, K., Osborne-Laroche, C., Park, H.W., Parolin, E., Paul-Cole, K., Peer, L.S., Philippon, M., Plaisir, C., Marroquin, J.P., Prasad, Simran., Ramsarun, R., Razzaq, S., Rhainds, S., Robin, D., Scartozzi, R., Davindra, S., Fard, S.S., Soroko, M., Motlagh, N.S., Stern, K., Toro, L., Toure, M.W., Tran-Huynh, S., Trépanier-Chicoine, S., Waddingham, C., Weekes, A.J., Wisniewski, A., Gamberi, C. (2021). The biology of vasopressin. Biomedicines, 9(1), 89. doi:10.3390/biomedicines9010089

  78. Feldman, R. (2017). The Neurobiology of Human Attachments. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21(2), 80–99. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2016.11.007

  79. Cera, N., Vargas-Cáceres, S., Oliveira, C., Monteiro, J., Branco, D., Pignatelli, D., & Rebelo, S. (2021). How relevant is the systemic oxytocin concentration for human sexual behavior? A systematic review. Sexual Medicine, 9(4), 100370–100370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2021.100370

  80. Stallen, M., Rossi, F., Heijne, A., Smidts, A., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Sanfey, A. G. (2018). Neurobiological mechanisms of responding to injustice. The Journal of Neuroscience, 38(12), 2944–2954. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1242-17.2018

  81. Krueger, F., Parasuraman, R., Moody, L., Twieg, P., de Visser, E., McCabe, K., O’Hara, M., & Lee, M. R. (2012). Oxytocin selectively increases perceptions of harm for victims but not the desire to punish offenders of criminal offenses. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8(5), 494–498. doi:10.1093/scan/nss026 

  82. Hu, Y., Scheele, D., Becker, B., Voos, G., David, B., Hurlemann, R., & Weber, B. (2016). The effect of oxytocin on third-party altruistic decisions in unfair situations: An fmri study. Scientific Reports, 6(1). doi:10.1038/srep20236

  83. Jääskeläinen, I. P., & Kosonogov, V. (2023). Perspective taking in the human brain: complementary evidence from neuroimaging studies with media-based naturalistic stimuli and artificial controlled paradigms. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051934

  84. Cogoni, C., Monachesi, B., Mazza, V., Grecucci, A., & Vaes, J. (2023). Neural dynamics of vicarious physical pain processing reflect impaired empathy toward sexually objectified versus non‐sexually objectified women. Psychophysiology, 60(12), e14400. doi:10.1111/psyp.14400

  85. Morris, K. L., Goldenberg, J., & Boyd, P. (2018). Women as animals, women as objects: Evidence for two forms of objectification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(9), 1302–1314. doi:10.1177/0146167218765739

  86. Cogoni, C., Carnaghi, A., & Silani, G. (2018). Reduced empathic responses for sexually objectified women: An fMRI investigation. Cortex, 99, 258–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.11.020

  87. Braithwaite, S. R., Coulson, G., Keddington, K., & Fincham, F. D. (2014). The influence of pornography on sexual scripts and hooking up among emerging adults in college. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 111–123. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0351-x

  88. Stietz, J., Jauk, E., Krach, S., & Kanske, P. (2019). Dissociating empathy from perspective-taking: Evidence from intra- and inter-individual differences research. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 126. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00126

  89. Davis, A. N., Martin-Cuellar, A., & Luce, H. (2019). Life events and prosocial behaviors among young adults: Considering the roles of perspective taking and empathic concern. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 180(4–5), 205–216. doi:10.1080/00221325.2019.1632785

  90. Riečanský, I., & Lamm, C. (2019). The role of sensorimotor processes in pain empathy. Brain Topography, 32(6), 965–976. doi:10.1007/s10548-019-00738-4

  91. Orenius, T. I., Raij, T. T., Nuortimo, A., Näätänen, P., Lipsanen, J., & Karlsson, H. (2017). The interaction of emotion and pain in the insula and secondary somatosensory cortex. Neuroscience, 349, 185–194. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.02.047

  92. Rütgen, M., Seidel, E.-M., Silani, G., Riečanský, I., Hummer, A., Windischberger, C., Petrovic, P., & Lamm, C. (2015). Placebo analgesia and its opioidergic regulation suggest that empathy for pain is grounded in self pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(41), 5638–5646. doi:10.1073/pnas.1511269112

  93. Namkung, H., Kim, S.-H., & Sawa, A. (2017). The insula: An underestimated brain area in clinical neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology. Trends in Neurosciences, 40(4), 200–207. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2017.02.002

  94. Skorska, M. N., Hodson, G., & Hoffarth, M. R. (2018). Experimental effects of degrading versus erotic pornography exposure in men on reactions toward women (objectification, sexism, discrimination). The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 27(3), 261–276. doi:10.3138/cjhs.2018-0001

  95. Garaigordobil, M. (2014). Sexism and empathy: Differences as a function of sociodemographic variables and relations between both constructs. In Advances in Psychology Research (Vol. 100, pp. 59–80). Nova Science Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-63321-482-8.

  96. Rosell, D. R., & Siever, L. J. (2015). The neurobiology of aggression and violence. CNS Spectrums, 20(3), 254–279. doi:10.1017/s109285291500019x

  97. Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., & Kraus, A. (2015). A meta-analysis of pornography consumption and actual acts of sexual aggression in general population studies: Pornography and sexual aggression. Journal of Communication, 66(1), 183–205. doi:10.1111/jcom.12201

  98. Wright, P. J., Paul, B., & Herbenick, D. (2021). Preliminary insights from a U.S. probability sample on adolescents’ pornography exposure, media psychology, and sexual aggression. Journal of Health Communication, 26(1), 39–46. doi:10.1080/10810730.2021.1887980

  99. Marshall, E. A., & Miller, H. A. (2019). Consistently inconsistent: A systematic review of the measurement of pornography use. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 48, 169–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.08.019

  100. Rostad, W. L., Gittins-Stone, D., Huntington, C., Rizzo, C. J., Pearlman, D., & Orchowski, L. (2019). The association between exposure to violent pornography and teen dating violence in grade 10 high school students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(7), 2137–2147. doi:10.1007/s10508-019-1435-4

  101. Johnson, S. A. (2014). Pornography and the violent offender: Importance of finding the offender’s pornography stash. Journal of Forensic Research, 5(3), 229. doi:10.4172/2157-7145.1000229

  102. Brem, M. J., Garner, A. R., Grigorian, H., Florimbio, A. R., Wolford-Clevenger, C., Shorey, R. C., & Stuart, G. L. (2018). Problematic pornography use and physical and sexual intimate partner violence perpetration among men in Batterer Intervention Programs. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(11–12), 6085–6105. doi:10.1177/0886260518812806

  103. Sharpe, M., & Mead, D. (2021). Problematic pornography use: Legal and health policy considerations. Current Addiction Reports, 8, 556–567. doi:10.1007/s40429-021-00390-8

  104. Huntington, C., Willoughby, B., & Rhoades, G. (2022). Associations of adolescents’ pornography viewing with their romantic relationship skills and behaviors. The Journal of Sex Research, 61(1), 80–91. doi:10.1080/00224499.2022.2096844

  105. Marshall, E. A., & Miller, H. A. (2023). Age and type of first exposure to pornography: It matters for girls and boys. Deviant Behavior, 45(3), 377–393. doi:10.1080/01639625.2023.2248338

  106. Harper, C., & Hodgins, D. C. (2016). Examining correlates of problematic internet pornography use among university students. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(2), 179–191. doi:10.1556/2006.5.2016.022

  107. Jhe, G. B., Addison, J., Lin, J., & Pluhar, E. (2023). Pornography use among adolescents and the role of primary care. Family Medicine and Community Health, 11(1). doi:10.1136/fmch-2022-001776

  108. Gutierrez, B. C., & Leaper, C. (2023). Linking ambivalent sexism to violence-against-women attitudes and behaviors: A three-level meta-analytic review. Sexuality & Culture, 28(2), 851–882. doi:10.1007/s12119-023-10127-6

  109. Mancini, C., Reckdenwald, A., & Beauregard, E. (2012). Pornographic exposure over the life course and the severity of sexual offenses: Imitation and cathartic effects. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(1), 21–30. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.11.004

  110. Mancini, C., Reckdenwald, A., Beauregard, E., & Levenson, J. S. (2014). Sex industry exposure over the life course on the onset and frequency of sex offending. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6), 507–516. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2014.09.002

  111. Pathmendra, P., Raggatt, M., Lim, M. S., Marino, J. L., & Skinner, S. R. (2023). Exposure to pornography and adolescent sexual behavior: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e43116. https://doi.org/10.2196/43116

  112. Holt, K., Kissinger, J., Spickler, C., & Roush, V. (2021). Pornography use and sexual offending: An examination of perceptions of role and risk. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. doi:10.1177/0306624x211049183

  113. Huntington, C., Pearlman, D. N., & Orchowski, L. (2020). The confluence model of sexual aggression: An application with adolescent males. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 623–643. doi:10.1177/0886260520915550

  114. Malamuth, N. M. (2018). “Adding fuel to the fire”? Does exposure to non-consenting adult or to child pornography increase risk of sexual aggression? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 41, 74–89. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2018.02.013

  115. Malamuth, N. M., Lamade, R. V., Koss, M. P., Lopez, E., Seaman, C., & Prentky, R. (2021). Factors predictive of sexual violence: Testing the four pillars of the confluence model in a large diverse sample of college men. Aggressive Behavior, 47(4), 405–420. doi:10.1002/ab.21960

  116. Saqib, S., & Davidson, M. (2023). The confluence model of sexual aggression: The role of pornography as a secondary risk factor. Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention, 18, e13005. doi:10.5964/sotrap.13005

  117. Ray, T. N., & Parkhill, M. R. (2023). Components of hostile masculinity and their associations with male-perpetrated sexual aggression toward women: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(2), 355–368. doi:10.1177/15248380211030224

  118. Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(2), 217–230. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.38.2.217

  119. Hales, S. T. (2023). Hostile masculinity (HM): Confluence model of sexual aggression. Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior, 1–4. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_1136-1

  120. de Heer, B. A., Prior, S., & Hoegh, G. (2020). Pornography, masculinity, and sexual aggression on college campuses. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(23–24), 13582–13605. doi:10.1177/0886260520906186

  121. Orchowski, L. M., Oesterle, D. W., Berry-Cabán, C. S., Borsari, B., Kahler, C. W., Kazemi, D. M., & Berkowitz, A. D. (2023). An application of the confluence model of sexual aggression among young adult male soldiers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(13-14), 8263-8285. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231153895

  122. Ferrer-Perez, V. A., Bosch-Fiol, E., Ferreiro-Basurto, V., Delgado-Alvarez, C., & Sánchez-Prada, A. (2020). Comparing implicit and explicit attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02147

  123. Willis, M., Bridges, A.J. & Sun, C. Pornography use, gender, and sexual objectification: a multinational study. Sexuality & Culture 26, 1298–1313 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09943-z

  124. Dawson, K., Gabhainn, S. N., MacNeela, P. (2020). Toward a model of porn literacy: Core concepts, rationales, and approaches. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(1), 1-15. doi:10.1080/00224499.2018.1556238

  125. Austin, E. W., Pinkleton, B. E., Chen, Y. C., & Austin, B. W. (2015). Processing of sexual media messages improves due to media literacy effects on perceived message desirability. Mass Communication and Society, 18(4), 399-421. doi:10.1080/15205436.2014.1001909

  126. Sousa, M., Cunha, O., Gonçalves, R.A. et al. To Be or Not to Be Empathic: the Role of Empathy in Child Sexual Offending. Eur J Crim Policy Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-023-09567-5

Iona Duncan
Next

From Club to Clinic: The Treatment of PTSD with MDMA