Archives of Sexual Behavior, VoL 2, No. 4, 1973
Youth and Pornography in Social Context 1 Alan S. Berger, PH.D., 2 William Simon, PH.D., 3 and John H. Gagnon, PH.D. 4
Data drawn from two studies o f adolescents are used to analyze the relationship between indicators o f participation in conventional social networks and exposure to sexually explicit media. In both studies, the data indicate that higher degrees o f participation in friendship networks, dating patterns, etc., are related to higher levels o f exposure to a variety o f sexually explicit media. Sexually explicit media are related to sexual behavior, but sexual behavior is also strongly related to participation in adolescent social behavior patterns. Sexually explicit media (pornography) are very often viewed as a powerful behavior-shaping mechanism, but this view is not supported by the data presented in this paper. Rather, pornography is seen as an element in a total picture o f media consumption, and like other media it is consumed in proportion to the social position o f the consumer. Adolescence is seen as a time o f coming to grips with heterosociality and heterosexuality in a world which provides little training for either, Pornography is seen as one o f the few media which at least provide an imagery and language for this process o f sociosexual development. Levels o f exposure to pornography are seen to be low (not exceeding the number o f pictures in a year's issue o f Playboy or a single deck o f sexually explicit playing cards) and unable to increase sexual experimentation, although the reverse may be true. INTRODUCTION
Two conflicting images of the effects o f pornography inform most public discussion o f the nature o f §exually explicit media. On the one hand, there is an imagery which suggests that pornography is a medium which can powerfully motivate the individual to engage in more and/or different kinds o f sexual or 1 Data analysis for this paper was carried out under NICHD grant No. HD 04156 and General Support Grant No.5-S01-RRO-5666-04.. 2 Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Juvenile Research, Chicago, Illinois. 3 Program Supervisor, Sociology and Anthropology, Institute for Juvenile Research, Chicago, Illinois. 4 Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, and Director, Laboratory for Social Relations, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York. 279 © 1973 Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011.
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otherwise antisocial behavior than he would have engaged in. The proponents of this image take the position that pornography is much like a dangerous virus, and like a virus it should be dealt with by isolating it from the most susceptible portions of the population-in this case the young. Those who subscribe to the other image of pornography are willing to concede much less power to the material, viewing pornography as having no more motivating power than other media, and perhaps even less. Pornographic materials are seen as part of the normal social environment to which people are differentially exposed. Pornography is viewed as a possible source of learning about sexual behavior and sexuality, but one which does not necessarily feed deviant or aberrant sexual behavior but rather serves, in most cases, as an amplifier or stimulus to encourage sexual performance in conventional modes. It is also often seen as a corrective for adults who grew up in a repressive sexual environment, with the resulting limited imagery of sexuality, or as an outlet for the sexuality of persons who might otherwise engage in other forms of sexual behavior. The authors have for some time been interested in post-childhood socialization, with a particular interest in psychosexual development. The formation of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography became an occasion for adding additional analysis to our existing pool of data on the college experience and for gathering and analyzing new data drawn from working-class populations. The latter research provided us with information about a population that was underrepresented in the college studies, as well as a more direct look at adolescents of precollege ages. However, while the Commission provided both an occasion and financial support for this type of endeavor, it also created an excessively narrow scope of inquiry; the major focus of attention was on exposure and its relationship to behaviors of an essentially sexual nature. In this, the Commission reflected the general societal conviction that the sexual constituted a powerful and explanatory force in its own fight. Moreover, it also reflected the beliefs of the larger society by a disproportionate emphasis on the links between pornography, sexuality, and the pathological and/or deviant; underemphasizing, almost to the point of neglect, a concern for normal psychosexual and general personality development. The present article is our attempt at both condensing materials provided the Commission in two separate reports (Berger et al., 1970a, b) and, more importantly, casting a discussion of these materials in a broader sociological and psychological context. SOURCES OF DATA
The first of the two reports prepared for the Commission derived from a survey conducted in a predominantly working-class community. These young people were recruited through the assistance of cooperative public and parochial school administrators and street workers who were able to induce both groups
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and isolated individuals to come into their local office and fill out a self-administered questionnaire. In this way, 473 usable questionnaires were obtained out of 511 which were distributed. A number of considerations, time and money among them, made systematic sampling impossible, providing us with a "clump" rather than a sample-a factor the reader should keep in mind when data from the source are cited. The second report was based on a special analysis of three items dealing with exposure to pornography which were included in a large study of the sociosexual development of college students. Interviewing for this study was conducted in the spring of 1967, and 1177 complete interviews form the data base. This sample, drawn to represent both sexes, all 4 years of college, and all college students enrolled in 4-year, BA-granting, nonsectarian colleges with a population of 1000 or more, also presented few if any problems in interviewing or response rates. (There were virtually no break-offs among the sampled population, and virtually all students contacted for participation did participate.) Both samples are exclusively white-reflecting the populations from which they were drawn. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLES The respondents in both studies were about equally divided into males and females. The college students were sampled in such a way that 25% of the sample came from each of the years of college. The working-class sample was composed mainly of 16- to 18-year-olds, although a third of the sample was 13-15. Very few were under 13 or over 18. (See Tables I, II, and Ill.) Both samples were made up of respondents who came from predominantly intact homes. Respondents in both samples were white and predominantly Protestant or Catholic, but there was a higher proportion of Jews among the college students than among the working-class respondents. The college students also considered themselves more religious than the working-class adolescents. (See Table IV.) Table I. Gender and Age of Respondent in the Urban Adolescent Sample (Percentage Distribution) 13 or less
14
15
16
17
18 or older
N
M~e
4
Fem~e
3
10 9
18 20
17 38
23 18
27 13
248 224
Total
4
10
19
27
20
20
473 a
a The one case of NA (no answer) on gender is included in all tables.
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Table II. Gender and Year in College a in the College Sample (Percentage Distribution)
Male Female
Fresh.
Soph.
Jr.
St.
N
26 24
24 26
25 25
25 25
593 584
a Age restricted in sampling to the following limits: Freshman, 17-20; Sophomore, 18-21; Junior, 19-24; Senior, 20-24.
Table III. Gender and School Attendance Characteristics of the Urban Adolescent Sample Percent attending school
Percent of students attending parochial school
Male Female
79 (248) 94 (224)
20 (195) 35 (211)
Total
86 (473)
28 (406)
Table IV. Gender and Religious Characteristics of Urban Adolescent and College Youth Samples (Percentage Distribution) College youth
Urban adolescents
Male
Female
Male
Female
Current religion Protestant Catholic Jewish Other - n o n e
50 16 12 22
59 14 14 12
23 54 5 18
23 64 4 9
Self-assessed religiosity Very Somewhat Slightly Not at all
14 37 27 22
20 43 20 17
4 30 35 30
8 39 30 23
Current attendance Twice a week Weekly Twice a month Monthly Holiday None
9 18 12 11 5 45
12 25 12 13 4 34
5 20 6 3 31 45
8 33 6 5 26 22
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283
As might be expected from the nature of the sampling designs, the college students' parents represent a somewhat higher socioeconomic group than do the parents of the working-class youth. There are more high-status fathers among the college respondents than one would expect from total population figures and more blue-collar workers among the fathers of the respondents from predominantly working-class communities. Other socioeconomic characteristics are similarly distributed. All in all, the data permit us to draw a picture of the adolescent years, knowing that the picture based on the younger years is drawn from a different type of population than the picture based on the older years.
THE QUESTION OF EXPOSURE In general, both views of pornography that we described at the beginning of this article seem to invest pornography with some almost magical inherent attractiveness to the consumer. And both seem to come to the conclusion that increased availability of these materials will lead to larger proportions of the population consuming the materials and at a higher rate than before the material became available. A reader of daily newspapers in many major metropolitan areas may get the impression that "porn shops" and "sex films" have become so common that the authorities are "cracking down" on them. The assumption behind this impression that availability of these materials has increased is uncheckable. If one grants the assumption that increased availability means that larger proportions of the population are exposed (rather than the same proportion consuming either more or more explicit material), the need for baseline data on rates of exposure becomes obvious. Let us thus begin our description of the role pornography plays in adolescent life with a discussion of rates of exposure. In the college student study, pornography was not the central hlterest, and exposure was measured by simple questions: How frequently have you seen 1. Pornographic pictures, cartoons, drawings? 2. Stag movies depicting intercourse? 3. Pornographic books, typescript or mimeo? with response categories set at very frequently, fairly frequently, rarely, or never.
In the working-class study, we asked about exposure in more detail. Pictures were divided into three types: nudes, nudes with exposed genitals, and pictures of intercourse. Movies were split into movies of nudes and those with intercourse. We also asked about books describing sexual activity in slang terms. For all of these types of sexually explicit media, we obtained the number of times this had been seen in the past year.
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There are a number of serious analytic problems in interpreting these data, and much of the rest of the data we shall present. First, it was collected at two different times (the college students in 1967 and the working-class adolescents in 1970). Second, the measurements are on different kinds of scales. Third, in the college student study we asked about "pornography," while in the urban adolescent study we asked about sexually explicit media. Particularly in view of the time difference between the two studies, we feel that the responses of the two groups may reflect a different definition-what the college students might have defined as pornographic is now much more open and public, while at the time the college students were thinking of more private underground-type media. These analytic problems aside, however, the overall rates of exposure are shown in Table V. In spite of these problems, there are some conclusions that can be drawn from these data. First, in virtually every comparison, and especially at the higher ends of the exposure continuum, males were more likely to have been exposed than females. Second, in both samples pictorial representations were the most commonly seen form of these media, movies of intercourse the least, with textual materials occupying an intermediate position. Third, there are differences between the two studies in rates of exposure. But these are virtually impossible to interpret because of the different times at Table V. Proportions Exposed to Types of Sexually Explicit Media, by Gender, in Two Studies (Percent Ever Exposed)
Urban adolescent study Male
Female
Pictures of nudes
97 (223)
86 (210)
Pictures of nudes
95 (216)
65 (197)
Pictures of intercourse
77 (207)
35 (192)
Movies of nudes
80 (209)
82 (198)
Movies of
60 (211) 79 (206)
with genitals
intercourse
Textual
College youth study Male
Female
95 (593)
76 (584)
32 (193)
47 (593)
12 (584)
78 (200)
88 (593)
61 (584)
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
285
which the studies were conducted, their differing locations, and the different ways measurements were taken. These problems are typical of the problems involved in secondary analyses such as this one. Even when both studies are conducted by the same individuals, measures do not always remain the same. For instance-in order to maintain comparability between the measures of exposure in the two studies under discussion, we have to move to an ever/never dichotomy, losing the data on higher levels of exposure. In an attempt to get around this problem, we will adopt the strategy of presenting the major line of argument from each study separately. Thus although the argument is the same, we can approach it by using slightly different indicators without confusing the issue about totally comparable measures (an unattainable goal in any case). Let us begin with the study of working-class urban adolescents. The data from this study go into somewhat more detail concerning some of the arguments we wish to make than do the data from the college youth study. In particular, the urban adolescent study has information on exposure, sources of exposure, the social setting of exposure, and the reactions to exposure which was not available from the college youth study. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO EXPOSURE Age
Given the critical age range of the urban adolescent study, one critical question is immediately obvious: Does exposure to pornography increase with age? The answer is that there is a surprisingly mild relationship: rates of ever having seen any of the types of sexually explicit material do not vary much by age, except in the case of movies. Here, 18-year-old respondents were more likely to have seen sexually explicit movies than were younger respondents-but there was no age variation below age 1 8 - a fact which reinforces the argument to be made later that these are commercial movies (seen in public contexts), not stag films (seen in nonpublic contexts-see Table VI). Social Participation Except for those people who believe that pornography can exert its impact without reference to the social structure within which it exists, it becomes of compelling importance to look at the social context in which people are exposed to pornographic materials. Only by understanding the social context in which pornography is consumed is it possible to attempt an evaluation of the meaning of pornography either to the consumer or to the society. And only by understanding something of the nature of the social context in which pornography is consumed can one begin to understand how or why it has a function in normal
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Table VI. Gender, Age, and Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media Among Urban Adolescents Age of males
Age of females
Media and level of exposure
14 or less
15
16
17
18 up
14 or less
15
16
17
18 up
Pictures of nudes (%21or more)
76 (33)
64 (44)
86 (35)
74 (49)
75 (61)
16 (25)
23 (42)
21 (77)
25 (37)
32 (29) N=432 NAa = 41 Total = 473
Pictures of nudes with genitals (% 11 or more)
55 (31)
56 (41)
60 (34)
35 (52)
58 (57)
8 (25)
13 (40)
13 (70)
13 (35)
30 (27) N=412 NA= 61 Total = 473
Pictures of intercourse (% 5 or more)
49 (27)
60 (38)
52 (35)
35 (48)
57 (58)
10 (21)
9 (39)
5 (72)
9 (34)
12 (26) N = 398 NA = 75 Total = 473
Movies of nudes ( % 5 o r more)
26 (32)
49 (37)
24 (33)
49 (49)
50 (58)
23 (26)
14 (38)
21 (77)
36 (36)
39 (23) N = 409 NA = 64 Total = 473
Movies of intercourse
15 (34)
24 (38)
26 (35)
27 (48)
30 (61)
13 (24)
0 (33)
5 (71)
17 (36)
10 (29) N = 409 NA = 64 Total = 473
Books ( % 5 o r more)
48 (27)
56 (37)
36 (30)
44 (50)
35 (61)
32 (22)
33 (40)
29 (75)
20 (36)
26 (27) N = 405 NA = 68 Total = 473
a NA, no answer.
psychosexual and psychosocial d e v e l o p m e n t . We will m a k e the a r g u m e n t t h a t participation in n o r m a l adolescent social activities is a m a j o r factor in exposure to sexually explicit media. Since exposure at least once is so c o m m o n , we l o o k at the higher end o f the c o n t i n u u m in making this argument. One w a y to i n d e x t h e degree to w h i c h an adolescent is participating in the n o r m a l social w o r l d is to e x a m i n e the n u m b e r o f close friends. When this variable is e x a m i n e d in relationship to exposure, as in Table VII, it can be seen
TT Table VII. Gender, Number of Close Friends, and Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media Among Urban Adolescents Males: number of close friends
Females: number of close friends
Media and level of exposure
0-2
3--4
5-10
10+
0-2
3-4
5-10
10+
Pictures of nudes (% 21 or more)
71 (41)
84 (44)
74 (66)
69 (61)
10 (42)
24 (67)
29 (66)
21 (28) N=415 NAa = 58 Total = 473
Pictures of nudes with genitals (% 11 or more)
56 (46)
41 (49)
58 (67)
71 (72)
20 (45)
24 (72)
26 (69)
33 (30) N = 450 NA = 23 Total = 473
Pictures of intercourse (% 5 or more)
59 (46)
45 (49)
48 (67)
72 (72)
20 (45)
17 (72)
19 (69)
27 (30) N=450 NA= 23 Total = 473
Movies of nudes (%5 or more)
32 (40)
29 (45)
48 (62)
46 (52)
24 (42)
19 (63)
27 (56)
23 (26) N = 386 NA = 87 Total = 473
Movies of intercourse (% 5 or more)
26 (46)
24 (49)
37 (67)
49 (72)
20 (45)
19 (72)
22 (69)
20 (30) N=450 NA= 23 Total = 473
Books (% 5 or more)
50 (46)
43 (49)
48 (67)
62 (72)
13 (45)
35 (72)
39 (69)
57 (30) N = 450 NA = 23 Total = 473
a NA, no answer.
that, especially for the boys, the larger the n u m b e r o f close friends the higher the p r o p o r t i o n w h o had b e e n e x p o s e d to the sexually explicit media. This is also true, b u t to a lesser degree, a m o n g the girls. A n even stronger measure o f participation in heterosocial activities is the f r e q u e n c y w i t h w h i c h adolescents date. The data here, although once again stronger for the females than for the males, indicate that the t w o variables are
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288
Table VIII. Gender, Dating Frequency, and Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media Among Urban Adolescents (Percent Exposed 11 Times or More)
Gender and media
Once a month
Twice a month
Once a week
Twice a week
More than twice weekly
Pictures of nudes Males Females
85 (56) 27 (58)
89 (28) 34 (21)
89 (37) 39 (36)
75 (20) 39 (29)
80 (41) 46 (31) N = 357 NAa = 116 Total = 473
Pictures of nudes with genitals Males Females
46 (58) 8 (56)
60 (25) 32(19)
49 (39) 12 (33)
55 (18) 17 (24)
61 (41) 28 (49) N = 362 NA= 111 Total = 473
Pictures of intercourse Males Females
32 (56) 0 (56)
34 (27) 0 (19)
27 (36) 3 (35)
32 (16) 0 (25)
46 (40) 12 (24) N = 334 NA = 139 Total = 473
Movies of nudes Males Females
12 (57) 4 (56)
17 (24) 10 (20)
15 (33) 3 (36)
19 (21) 29 (24)
32 (38) 8 (25) N = 334 NA = 139 Total = 473
Once a month Movies of intezcourseb Males Females
Once a week to twice a month
Twice a week or more
6 (35) 0 (37)
5 (60) 6 (52)
18 (57) 6 (53) N = 294 NA = 179 Total = 473
Books b Males Females
26 (55) 4 (56)
29 (24)
26 (35) 10 (21)
23 (56) 15 (34)
14 (50) N = 331 NA = 142 Total = 473
a NA, no answer. b Note that some dating frequency categories have been combined to conserve cases.
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
289
related: as frequency of dating increases, so does the frequency of exposure to sexually explicit media. (See Table VIII.) The data presented thus far are not totally clear-cut. There is evidence that participation in normal social life, as measured by the number of friends and dating frequency, is related to exposure to sexually explicit materials. But the relationships are not overwhelmingly strong, and there is some inconsistency in the ways percentages go. However, the argument will become stronger when we examine the sources of the exposure. From an analysis of the percentage differences in these data, we get the impression that the popularity measure (that is, number of close friends) is the more important variable for the boys, while the dating measure is the more important variable for the girls. (See Table IX.) This pattern of findings makes good sense, particularly in view of what is" known about the social world of urban working-class adolescents. That is, this is a strongly homosocial environment, in which the boys participate in a male culture, while the girls are included in a more female culture, and the two seem to intersect mainly in herdlike and nondyadic relationships and very selfconsciously in dating. Since this is the case, we would have expected the number of close friends to be more strongly related to exposure to sexually explicit media for the boys-as the media circulate through a circle of friends, the larger the number of friends the higher the probability of being exposed-while the girls would be more likely to be exposed as a result of their interaction with the boys during dating. Thus the number of close friends is the relevant criterion of participation for boys, and dating frequency is the relevant criterion for the girls. One note of caution in interpreting these percentage differences: particularly among the boys, rates of exposure are high and are not completely linearly related to the social participation measures. Thus some percentage differences are not in the expected direction, while others are small. These deviations should not be taken too seriously, especially in view of the fact that of the 18 percentage differences computed for each sex, only six for the males and two for the~ females are not in the predicted direction. So on the whole there is impressive consistency in the direction of the relationship between these two measures of participation in social behavior and exposure to erotic materials. SOURCES OF EXPOSURE
For all types of sexually explicit media, sources were obtained in two ways: first by permitting multiple responses to a list of possible sources and second by obtaining the single most common source. For all three types of sexually explicit pictures, friends were the most frequently mentioned source and the pictures were mentioned as either belonging to a friend or being in a magazine a friend showed to the respondent. No
290
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
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Youth and Pornography in Social Context
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other source was mentioned by even half of the respondents, even when all applicable sources could be checked. This was most noticeable in the cases of pictures of intercourse. The same and even stronger relationship emerged when the most common source of these pictures was reported. Here, as pictures became more explicit, the total percentage checking that they belonged either to a friend or to a friend's magazine increased. Sexually explicit movies showed a slightly different pattern. Most exposure took place in a commercial theatre-reflecting the increase in sexually explicit movies of the past few years. But movies of sexual intercourse were seen at friends' homes, more frequently than movies of nudes, suggesting that these may be more likely to be stag movies rather than "silver screen sexploitation" films, which are not quite so explicit, a fact which helps to understand why the 18-year-olds (the only respondents legally able to see X-rated movies) were more likely to have seen movies both of nudes and of sexual intercourse. A slightly different pattern emerges in the consideration of books describing sexual intercourse in slang terms. A majority of both boys and girls reported that books belonging to their friends were a source, more than a third also reported that a friend had shown such a book to them, but a large proportion (41%) had also seen such a book in a regular bookstore, as against retail outlets specializing in such materials-an option that was listed. No other source was mentioned by as many as a fifth of the respondents. Once again, the most common source was also the book belonged to a friend (34%), but nearly as many (26%) had seen such a book in a regular bookstore as their most common source. But having friends show them the book was reported as the most common source by 18% of the respondents. So, overall, 52% of the respondents reported that the most common source of seeing such books was either having a friend possessing it or having a friend show it to the respondent. Thus the data show that for three types of sexually explicit pictures and sexually explicit books, the most common source of exposure is friends. A majority of the respondents in each of these four cases reported that their most common source for these materials was their friends, who either showed it to them or owned the materials. Movies, a much more expensive and time-consuming medium, were most typically seen in commercial theatres. At this point, our argument that sexually explicit media are linked to participation in normal social networks has considerably more persuasive power than it did when only rates of exposure were considered. We can add to this persuasive ability by considering the social setting in which exposure takes place. Only in the case of sexually explicit books did a fifth or more of either the boys or girls usually see these materials alone. In all other cases, three types of pictures and two types of movies, the social setting was indeed a social o n e other participants were involved.
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F o r the girls, the social setting o f exposure was n o t o n l y social, it was heterosocial: w i t h no exceptions, girls were m o r e likely to see sexually explicit pictures and movies in the c o m p a n y o f b o y s (either in m i x e d c o m p a n y or o n l y w i t h b o y s ) t h a n t h e y were to see these materials solely in the c o m p a n y o f girls. F o r the b o y s , this was also the case w i t h regard to sexually explicit movies, b u t sexually explicit pictures o f all three types were m o r e likely to have b e e n seen in a h o m o s o c i a l rather t h a n a heterosocial setting. Table X. Gender, Frequency of Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media, and Most Common Social Setting of Exposure (Percent Other Sex Only or Mixed Company) Media and frequency
Males
Females
A. Pictures of nudes 1-4 5-10 11-20 21-100 100+
33 34 38 35 50
(12) (15) (21) (82) (68)
50 46 36 56 85
(54) (52) (22) (34) (14)
B. Pictures of nudes with genitals 1-4 5-10 11+
20 (40) 14 (44) 39 (118)
47 24 48
(76) (21) (33)
C. Pictures of intercourse 1-4 5+
18 (49) 45 (105)
45 69
(47) (15)
D. Movies of nudes 104 5-10 11+
58 62 60
(76) (48) (33)
66 (108) 85 (33) 86 (15)
E. Movies of intercourse 1-4 5+
44 62
(67) (55)
76 86
(56) (21)
21 24 31
(69) (42) (54)
14 18 36
(53) (33) (30)
N = 373 Not exposed = 36 No answer = 64 Total= 473
N=332 Not exposed = 80 No answer = 81 Total = 473
N=216 Not exposed = 173 No answer = 84 Total = 473
N Not exposed No answer Total
= 313 = 78 = 82 = 473
N = 199 Not exposed = 205 No answer = 69 Total = 473
F. Books 104 5-10 11+
N Not exposed No answer Total
= 325 = 89 = 59 = 473
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293
These data make the case for the social participationg network argument even stronger: except in the case of books, the vast majority of adolescents in our study reported that they usually saw erotic materials in a social situation, and one which as often as not was a heterosocial situation. Since friends were the most common source of this material for a majority of the respondents, and since there is an indication of a relationship between exposure and numbers of friends and dating frequency, the essentially social nature of the use of pornography has become dear. We cannot specify exactly the nature of the mechanism by which this happens, but on the whole it seems likely that there is less physical presence of these materials in the area we studied than might be suspected on the basis of the rates of exposure alone. Rather, we have the impression from these data and from observation of the area that what material does reach the hands of the adolescent population circulates within friendship and dating circles. Thus, a relatively limited amount of the material receives a relatively wide exposure. FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE AND SOCIAL SETTINGS The social, and essentially heterosocial, nature of the mechanism by which sexually explicit media circulate becomes clear when one considers the relationship between frequency of exposure to the media and the social setting in which this exposure takes place. Almost without exception, the respondents who reported the highest levels of exposure to each type of media were more likely than those who reported the least exposure to have reported that they were typically with members of the opposite sex only or in mixed company when this exposure took place. (See Table X.) When this information is added to the information on the relationships between exposure and numbers of friends and dating patterns, the link between participation in normal adolescent social behavior and exposure to explicit sexual media becomes dear. The most socially active and popular adolescents see the largest amount of these materials, and they tend to see it in heterosocial settings. The image of the solitary consumer using these media to replace social interaction is clearly not supported by the data. CORRELATES OF EXPOSURE
The major argument of this paper is that exposure to sexually explicit media is part of participation in the normal social processes of adolescent life. We have demonstrated the tie between the two in a group of urban adolescent youth to this point. But some of the major concerns of the Commission, and which led to the creation of the Commission, involved the "effects" of exposure to sexually explicit materials, especially on sexual behavior.
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In the course o f our research, we examined a large number of variables ranging from socioeconomic measures to religion to measures o f family structure and functioning as well as sexual behavior. Although some interesting relationships do emerge from this analysis, there is n o t space in this context to discuss them. It seems more important to discuss here some o f the sexual variables we examined. It is also important to note that this analysis is incapable o f specifying "causes" and "effects." Our analysis is essentially correlational, and any relationTable XIA. Gender, Frequency of Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media, and Sexual Activity Percent non-fir~n
Percent ever masturbate Type of media and frequency of exposure A. Pictures of nudes Never 1-4 5-10 11-20 21-100 100+
Males
Females
Males
I7 3
(30)
79 72 69
(19) (80) (75)
I7 5
(51)
70 69
C. Pictures of sexual intercourse Never 1-4 5+
66 67 74
D. Movies of nudes Never 1-4 5-10 11+
66 (35) 71(76) 76 (50) 76 (29)
E. Movies of intercourse Never 1-4 5+
68 81 65
(81) (67) (74)
30 40 27
(109) (52) (37)
53 60 76
58 77 73 71
(40) (66) (44) (72)
25 29 42 40
(40) (90) (33) (35)
64 60 54 70
B. Pictures of nudes with genitals Never 1-4 5-10 11+
F. Books
Never 1-4 5-10 11+
Females
20 18 38 37 f54 L-
(25) (50) (50) (19) (46)
I65
(31)
58 54 68
(19) (79) (75)
(60) (73) (20) (45)
I5 8
(48)
(44) (127)
25 36 45 31
52 66
(43) (133)
15(65) 13 (71) 12 (17) 31 (48)
(44) (52) (126)
28 40 34
(116) (50) (32)
58 52 69
(45) (50) (129)
13 17 33
(115) (47) (39)
6
(34)
I3 3
(43)
(78) (67) (79)
9 27 32
(111) (56) (34)
(42) (68) (44) (70)
5 19 18 30
(43) (90) (28) (40)
19 (31) 55 (38) 36(104,55(74)14(103) (41) I3 2 65 (48) 80 (30)
14(28) 10 (50) 16 (51) 0 (19) 57 (43) L
295
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
ship we Fred is symmetrical. Neither variable can be said to cause the other. Indeed, our position is that both sexual behavior variables and sexually explicit media variables are related to social participation. Social participation, in our view, "causes" both. Exposure to sexuaUy explicit media and sexual behavior may both be "effects" of social behavior rather than "causes" or "effects" of one another. EXPOSURE AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY Rather than dealing with each of the six types of sexually explicit media and the two types of sexual behavior (masturbation and intercourse) in separate tables, we will present and discuss two summary tables. (The original individual tables are available in the original reports of the research in the Technical Reports of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, Vol. 9.) In the tables herein (Tables XIA and XIB), in order to obtain sufficient numbers of cases on which to conduct an analysis, various categories have been combined. However, the general pattern of relationship is dear. Among the boys in the sample, only movies of nudes and books dealing with sexual activity in slang terms were related to the proportion who ever masturbated. In both these cases, as the frequency of exposure increased, so did the proportion who had ever masturbated. Among the girls in the study, a similar relationship was found only for pictures of nudes, movies of nudes, and the books. But in thinking about these data, it should be remembered that it was the older respondents who had seen the larger amounts of the sexually explicit materials, and the relationship between age and ever having masturbated is sufficiently well known so that the obvious underlying factor needs no further explication at this point. But we might comment that most of these relationships Table XIB. Gender, Frequency of Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media, and Sexual Activity (Percent Differences Between Highest Exposure and Nonexposurea) Masturbation
Intercourse
Type of media
Male
Female
Male
Female
Pictures of nudes Nudes with genitals Intercourse
-4 -6 +8
+34 +6 +6
+3 +8 +11
+23 +16 +20
Movies of nudes Intercourse
+10 -3
+13 -3
+25 +23
+27 +24
Books
+13
+15
+6
+25
a Calculated from Table XIA.
296
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
are far from linear and that often the respondents who had seen intermediate amounts of these media had been more likely to have engaged in masturbation than those who had seen either more or less of the same media. This fact, true of both the boys and girls in the study, makes it even more difficult to assign causality to the exposure to the sexually explicit media. The difference in meaning and rates of masturbation by sex also make it difficult to speculate on the meaning of these relationships. Masturbation is virtually universal among males of the age we are considering, but it is far less common among females of any age, generally beginning later in life, and is perhaps associated with a higher commitment to sociosexuality than is the case for males. If this is true, we would expect to fmd a high degree of association between exposure to pornography and masturbation among females, because both are related to the underlying dimension: sociosexuality. This would be particularly true in the current study, because females who have masturbated at the ages of our respondents have begun relatively early, thus indicating an early (and probably strong) commitment to sexuality. The high degree of relationship with the males arises out of the universality of masturbation for them. When the behavior being examined is sexual intercourse rather than masturbation, a slightly more consistent pattern of relationships is found. But although the relationships are more consistent, interpretive problems still exist, and the problem of causality is not solved as easily as might be thought. Thus although the proportion of nonvirgins goes up as the frequency of exposure to each type of medium goes up for both sexes, several other factors have to be kept in mind. First, it should be noted that a large part of the apparent difference comes only from the proportion sexually experienced among the most highly exposed group. Small increments in frequency of exposure below the highest category generally are quite small and are sometimes negative (as in the case of exposure to nudes with exposed genitals). Second, once again the age factor must be included in any explanatory scheme. The older respondents were the ones most likely to have seen the highest levels of sexually explicit media, and since the older respondents were also more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse, the relationship should be obvious (even though the small case base precludes any such analysis on these data). Third, remembering the relationships between popularity as measured by both number of friends and dating frequency and exposure, and also the relationship between frequency of exposure and the heterosocial setting of the exposure, it becomes dear (although the data are too limited to make such a test) that the most likely explanation would involve all of these factors. Indeed, our impression on the basis of all these analyses is that it is probably the participation in normal adolescent heterosocial behavior which leads to both sexual intercourse and exposure to sexually explicit media. The urban adolescent with a larger number of friends who dates more frequently, who is older, is
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
297
thereby more likely to have the opportunity for engaging in both these activities as a result of the more extensive participation in adolescent social patterns. (This seems the appropriate place to point out that in a minority dissent from the majority report of the Commission, several commissioners pointed to these results as indicating that pornography did indeed lead to increased levels of sexual behavior. Besides misinterpreting associations as causal statements, they miss the point of the underlying dimension of social participation. In tables not in the original Commission report [and not presented here-the number of cases is very low], we find that both dating and number of friends are strongly and dramatically related to the proportion nonvirgin. When these two variables are used together in examining the percent nonvirgin, the strength of the social participation argument [at least in regards virginity] is overwhelming-although the exceedingly low number of cases makes us hesitant to depend solely on this evidence.) Perhaps we can best summarize the results of this analysis by pointing out that it seems most likely to postulate a system in which a relatively large number of gatekeepers obtain a small amount of sexually explicit media and begin to circulate it through the social systems in which they participate. Some very large proportion of these gatekeepers are boys, and they circulate it through their friendship networks whence it eventually reaches the girls who participate in these same social networks. The material itself, except for films, is rather mobile, passing from person to person, crossing sex lines in the course of normal dating and heterosocial behavior patterns. The data do not permit causal statements, but it seems likely that if any causal principle is operating it can be found in social participation, which leads both to exposure to sexually explicit materials and to engaging in sexual activity, rather than in exposure to these materials leading to the activity. (A significant factor to be kept in mind when considering a topic such as our present one, where the knowledge of change abounds, is that of an historical perspective. The best historical materials available are those provided by Alfred Kinsey and his research assistants (1953). A comparison of the present data with those of Kinsey suggests surprisingly little shift in either direction for workingclass populations despite a marked change in legal views and community practice with reference to the availability of erotic materials.) Since this is the case with the adolescents aged 14-18, we expect to find much the same thing in the older adolescents studied while they were attending college. And it is to this study that we now turn. The college student study contains far less information on pornography than does the urban adolescent study but comes from a far more systematic and reliable sample. Nevertheless, the same patterns found in the latter study are visible in the data. The reader will recall that in the college study we asked about exposure to pornographic pictures, texts, and stag movies. These three types of stimuli were combined into an index of exposure to pornography by an additive
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
298
process (two points assigned for each type seen fairly or very frequently, one for each type seen rarely, and zero points for each type not seen). This produced the results shown in Table XII. Since these distributions are so radically different for each sex, we have collapsed them differently for each sex. Thus although we will have five categories of exposure, they will be different for men and women. The final index in its collapsed form is shown in Table XIII. Thus we have collapsed the two highest and the two lowest scores for the men and have collapsed only the three highest categories for the women. It should be noted that even combining the three highest scores in the highest female category does not include as many women at this level o f exposure as is included by collapsing only the two highest scores among the men. Thus the highest category of exposure scores among the women goes as high as the highest category among the men, but it starts lower. But the lowest category among the women is the pure case o f never having been exposed to any pornography, while among the men this pure case has been combined with a rare exposure to any one type of pornography. As a result, we have an index with equal numbers of categories for both men and women, although there are some minor differences in the definition o f the categories b y sex. Relationships between exposure to types of pornography were about equally strong among men and women, and both sexes showed no relationship between exposure and year in college. Our analysis of social and family background characteristics also found little in the way of relationships. Social class,
Table XlI. Gender and Scores on the Index of Exposure to Pornography (Percentage Distribution) Scores on the index of exposure to pornography 6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Total
Male
5
13
21
28
24
8
2
101%
Female
a
2
8
14
36
21
18
99%
a Refers to less than Yz of 1% or cells in a table in which the percentage base is 16ss than 20 cases.
Table XIII. Gender, Exposure Index Scores, and Percent Receiving Each Score Males:
5-6 4 3 2 0-1
18% 21% 27% 24% 10%
Females:
4-6 3 2 1 0
10% 14% 36% 21% 18%
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
299
religion, intimacy with parents, family warmth, and family concern with nudity were all unrelated to exposure to pornographic materials. Demographic and structural aspects of the high school the respondents attended (size, control, city size) were similary unrelated. However, high school class rank, frequency of dating in high school, and number of people dated in high school were positively associated with exposure, as were the number of people dated steadily, the number of close friends, and the respondent's perceived popularity vis~ vis the other high school students among the men in the sample. There was also a relationship between exposure to pornography and having had a sex education course and having read a good deal of technical sex materials. As in the urban adolescent study, the factors related to exposure were those which seemed to be a measure of participation in normal adolescent social networks. The relationships were stronger and more consistent among the men than among the women, but the pattern was there for both sexes. This, and the fact that exposure was not related to year in college, indicated that our search for correlates of exposure should begin with high school. Two points must be recalled at this time-first, that exposure to pornography was not time specific and, second, that the data do not permit causal inferences to be drawn. With these warnings, we proceed to discuss two sexual correlates of exposure to pornography-masturbation and sociosexual experimentation (an index in which "high" includes coitus and frequent heavy petting, "moderate" includes infrequent heavy petting to frequent light petting, and "low" includes infrequent light petting and less). Sex differences on both these measures of sexual activity during high school are striking: males were much more active than females-in the case of masturbation, so much so that separate rates had to be established for analytic purposes (See Table XIV.) Table XIV. Gender and Masturbation Rates During High School (Percentage Distribution)
A. Male rates Male Female
B. Female rates Male Female
High (twice a week or mo~e)
Moderate (once a week)
Low (less than once a week)
N
27.8 2.8
35.7 6.4
36.5 90.9
586 591
(twice a month or mote)
(never to once a month)
never
N
77.1 17.4
11.6 22.7
11.3 59.9
586 591
300
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
These gender-specific definitions of the rates of masturbation will be used in all tables dealing with masturbation throughout this paper. The relationship between frequency of masturbation and exposure to pornography was weak among both men and women. Only the students who masturbated least frequently were likely to have seen less pornography than other students, and those who masturbated most frequently were not much more likely than those who masturbated less frequently to have seen relatively large amounts of pornography. (See Table XV.) During the course of the interview, a number of questions were asked about the nature of the fantasies the respondent had when he or she was masturbating or (for those who never masturbated) was sexually aroused. The time focus of the question was not specific to either the time the respondent was in high school or the time he or she was in college so that interpretation is slightly muddled. The interpretation is also unclear as a result of asking about the fantasies during periods of sexual arousal as well as masturbation. Also, the data deal with the number of different fantasies, not the total number of fantasies. However, if these confounding facts are kept clearly in mind, it is possible to investigate the nature of the fantasies a person has during periods of sexual arousal in relationship to exposure to pornography. The measure of association between the number of kinds of fantasies and the exposure indices is not overwhelmingly strong, nor is the pattern of relationships revealed by inspection of the cells of the table uniform. Nevertheless, there are some substantial differences in this table which should be pointed out. (See Table XVI.) Those students, both male and female, who had seen more pornography were more likely to have had more varied fantasies during periods of sexual excitement or masturbation. Differences were greater among the men than among the women, but even among the women those who had seen the least pornography had the fewest fantasies. Table XV. Gender, Frequency of High School Masturbation, and Index of Exposure to Pornography (Percentage Distribution) Index of exposure to pornography Frequency of high school masturbation
5-6
4
3
2
0-1
N
4-6
3
2
1
0
N
High
18
23
29
24
6
164
14
20
38
20
9
101
Moderate
17
18
35
22
8
146
8
16
38
26
12
132
Low
17
21
23
26
14
243
10
12
34
20
23
351
Max~n~s
18
21
27 24 = 0.090
10
553
10
14
36 21 ~ = 0.179
18
584
Males
Females
301
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
If one of the major uses of pornography is to provide a content to the fantasy life during periods of sexual excitement or during masturbation, this table provides some support to this notion. What is important here is the fact that people who see the most pornography are more likely to fantasize. The fantasies asked about in the course of the interview ranged from thinking about nonsexual things with someone the respondent loved through thoughts about sexual activity, group sex, forcing or being forced to do something sexual, etc. While not all the relationships were consistent, an examination of the individual tables dealing with each fantasy in relationship to each of the three forms of pornography emphasizes the point being made-namely, that people who fantasize more often and about more things were more likely to have been exposed to more pornography. Thus it seems safe to conclude that pornography does tend to be related to fantasizing and that pornography does in some sense provide the content and richness to the fantasy life of the individual. (George Steiner, 1967, argues that we ought to limit pornography because it corrupts private fantasy. It is possible that the capacity to generate fantasy is not generously distributed among the population, and for many people their fantasy lives may be "richer" as a result of the availability of pornography. This would be the argument of those who feel that pornography has an educational role in the lives of those exposed to it.) But what the students thought about in their fantasies was not as strongly related to their exposure to pornography as what they actually did in the realm of sexual behavior. The index of sociosexual experimentation (def'med above) referred to their actual behavior in the sexual sphere and was quite strongly related to their exposure to pornography. Table XV1. Gender, Number of Types of Fantasies During Sexual Arousal, and Index of Exposure to Pornography (Percentage Distribution) Index of exposure to
Number of types of fantasies
pornography Male
Male
Female
rates
rates
0-1
5-6
4~
8
4
3
3
Female
4-5
6-9
N
0-1
2
19 24
24
26
106
32
10
20 24
30
16
122
2
9
29 24
31
7
2
1
12
28 25
26
0-1
0
14
28 26
25
2
3
4-5
6-9
N
18 20
20
10
60
24
31 17
19
10
84
163
27
26 24
19
4
208
9
145
28
32 17
18
6
125
7
57
35
31 20
12
3
107
3
N= 1177
302
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
Since the interest in this case is in the factors related to exposure to pornography, we have taken the option of using the index of exposure to pornography as the dependent variable and discussing the differential rates of exposure to pornography among people with varying levels of sociosexual experimentation. There is a quite strong relationship between levels of sociosexual experimentation and exposure to pornography for both college men and college women. The relationship is statistically stronger for men (3, = 0.394) than for women (~/ = 0.164), but the relationship is substantial for both sexes (See Table XVII.) The overriding finding from this table is the fact that people who had higher levels of sociosexual experimentation during high school were more likely to have seen a lot of pornography than people with lower levels of sociosexual experimentation during high school. It should be noted at this point that, as we have indicated before, sociosexual behavior is another indicator of participation in the social networks and culture of high school. Just as the other measures of social participation (dating frequency, number of people dated, number of people went steady with, etc.) were related to exposure to pornography, so too is sociosexual experimentation. Thus all the evidence points to the conclusions that it is participation in the high school culture and its social networks which is the underlying phenomenon related to exposure to pornography. When we consider the effects of college variables on exposure to pornography, a similar pattern emerges. Factors such as year in college and type of school attended were not related to exposure. But when fraternity/sorority membership was related to exposure, an interesting finding emerged. Men who belonged to fraternities were more likely to have received a high score on the exposure index than those who did not belong. But women who Table XVII. High School SEI,a Gender, and Index of Exposure to Pornography Among the College Sample Index of exposure to pornography Males
Females
High school SEI
5-6
4
3
2
0-1
N
4-6
3
2
1
0
N
High
28
24
30
15
4
229
12
23
37
16
12
83
Moderate
16
20
28
26
9
228
11
14
37
21
17
247
4
15
23
38
19
136
9
12
34
24
22
254
Low
= 0.394 a Sociosexual experimentation index.
7 = 0.164
303
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
belonged to sororities were less likely to have received a high score than those who did not belong. In an effort to discover how the fraternity mechanism worked, we created an index of campus riving location. Based on this index, we are able to distinguish between those fraternity members who live in the fraternity houses and those who live elsewhere. We are also able to examine the relationship between where the student lives and the magnitude of his exposure to pornography. It is clear that those fraternity men who rived in the fraternity houses were more likely to have been exposed to a lot of pornography than any other men and in fact were 10% more likely to have received the highest score on the exposure index than were all fraternity men. Fraternity membership is one measure of social participation on the campus, but there are other types o f social behavior which should be examined in relationship to exposure to pornography. We begin our analysis of the relationship between social behavior and exposure to pornography by using college dating frequency as a measure o f social interaction. There was a relatively strong relationship between college dating frequency and exposure to pornography among the men but a much weaker one among the women in the sample. (See Table XVIII.) To illustrate the strength of the relationship, it can be noted that among the men who dated most frequently 44% received one of the top two scores on the exposure index, while among the men who dated least frequently about an equal proportion (48%) received one of the two lowest scores on the exposure index. In order to understand this relationship, several other factors must be understood. First, there was a strong relationship between the frequency of high school and college dating (3' o f +0.505 and +0.576 for the men and women, respectively), and, second, when frequency of high school dating is controlled, Table XVIII. Gender, Frequency of College Dating, and Index of Exposure to Pornography at Gender-Specific Rates (Percentage Distribution) Index of exposure to pornography Frequency of college dating
Males
Females
5-6
4
3
2
1-0
N
4-6
3
2
1
0
N
High
24
20
30
19
6
212
11
12
38
21
18
309
Moderate
14
22
36
18
9
165
11
15
40
21
13
131
Low
14
20
19
34
14
,214
9
19
27
22
23
143
18
21
28
24
10
591
10
14
36
21
18
583
Total
"r = +0.203
3, = +0.005
304
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
the relationship between exposure to pornography and college dating frequency is altered. For the men, the relationship becomes weaker in each category of high school dating, while for the women it becomes stronger. Third, it must be remembered that exposure was not related to year in college, suggesting that much of the exposure was a precollege phenomenon. Thus we suggest that social participation continues to be important for males during college but that for women it was the earlier social participation that facilitated the exposure to pornography and that the additional social participation indexed by college dating frequency does not add explanatory power as it does in the case of the men. These facts lead us to conclude that it is really high school dating frequency which is the important factor in this relationship. High school dating patterns are related to exposure patterns and to college dating frequency, which itself (especially among the men) is related to exposure to pornography. Social participation, especially as measured by dating frequency, is more strongly related to exposure among men than women. And it is clear that these relationships do not help us understand the relationships between social participation and exposure to pornography as well for the women as they do for the men. Since social participation seems to be differentially hnked to exposure to pornography by sex, we would also expect that sexual behavior would be similarly differentially linked and that there would be a stronger relationship among the men than among the women. This is what we fred. It will be recalled that it was shown that the distributions of scores on the index of sociosexual experimentation (Table XIX) held for the sample during high school. When college sociosexual behavior is considered, it can be seen that considerably more experimentation had taken place in the sample during the 1--4 years they had been in college. (See Table XX.) The increase in amount of sociosexual behavior is not only significant but is also interesting. It is clear from additional analyses that are currently in progress that the way young adolescents develop the social and sexual skills needed to form a family is complex and fascinating. This development will be extensively analyzed in a forthcoming work on the socialization process. But this development must be taken into account in this analysis, lest normal developmental Table XIX. Gender and High School Sociosexual Experimentation (PercentageDistribution) High school sociosexual experimentation Gender
High
Moderate
Low
N
Male
30
39
23
594
Female
14
42
44
583
305
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
changes in sexual behavior be mistaken for "effects" o f exposure to pornography. Thus although we will not go into any analysis o f the factors related to the development o f higher scores on the sociosexual experimentation index in the course o f this paper, we will have to consider the "effects" o f pornography in relation to the changing nature and magnitude o f such experimentation. The relationship between the index o f exposure to pornography and the college sociosexual experimentation index reveals an association o f considerable magnitude among the men, although n o t among the women. Those men who had been exposed to most pornography were much more likely to have received the highest score on the sociosexual experimentation index than were those who had seen little if any pornography. The same was true in reverse for the lowest score on the sociosexual experimentation index. The measure o f association for the males, 3' = 0.380, is also substantial and indicates a relationship of considerable magnitude. (See Table XXI.) Table XX, Gender and Index of College Sociosexual Experimentation (Percentage Distribution) College sociosexual experimentation Gender
High
Moderate
Low
N
Male
56
20
24
594
Female
40
35
25
583
Table XXI. Gender, Index of Exposure to Pornography, and College Soeiosexual Experimentation Index (Percentage Distribution) College sociosexuat experimentation Gender Male
Female
Exposure to pornography
High
Moderate
Low
N
5-6 4 3 2 0-1
77 62 60 44 4
14 18 21 22 23
8 20 19 34 53
106 122 162 145 57
To~l
56
20 24 = +0.380
592
4-6 3 2 1 0
38 49 41 39 32
38 29 38 38 31
23 23 21 23 27
60 84 208 124 107
Total
40
35 25 7 = +0.119
583
306
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
Among the women, the 7 is considerably lower (0.119), and there are relatively few percentage differences of any magnitude. In particular, the amount of pornography seen does not seem to have been related to the proportion receiving the highest score on the sociosexual experimentation index. However, the women who had seen the least pornography (none) were more likely (37%) to have received the lowest score on the sociosexual experimentation index than were the women who had seen the most pornography (23%). All in all, however, there does not seem to be a very strong relationship between the amount of exposure to pornography and college sociosexual experimentation among the women. Given the magnitude of the change in the index of sociosexual experimentation between high school and college, in order to interpret the findings of the previous table meaningfully it is necessary to recall the relationship between exposure to pornography and experimentation. (The relationships between high school sociosexual experimentation and exposure to pornography were 0.394 for males and 0.164 for females. But when high school sociosexual experimentation is introduced as a control for the relationship between exposure to pornography and college sociosexual experimentation [within sex], most of the relationship disappears. Among the men, only for those whose high school sociosexual experimentation was high was there a strong relationship between exposure and college sociosexual experimentation [men who were sexually active in high school and saw a lot of pornography were also likely to be sexually active in college], while among the women the only strong relationship was among those who were low on sociosexual experimentation in high school [and here those who had seen tittle pornography were low on college sociosexual experimentation]. These relationships should surprise nobody-the relationships do not indicate that anyone has moved beyond the boundaries of the permissible moral universe; rather, quite apart from their exposure to pornography, these are middle-class youth who are participating in normal sexual development as a part of essential family formation behavior.) Before attempting to interpret these relationships, it should be briefly noted that they are considerably weaker than the relationships between high school and college sociosexual experimentation. This relationship was quite strong, the 3' for men being 0.711 and that for women being 0.598. Putting all of these facts together, it becomes clear that the most potent relationship with college sociosexual experimentation is high school sociosexual experimentation. In all cases, the relationship between exposure to pornography and college sociosexual experimentation is weaker than that between the two sociosexual experimentation variables. But these relationships between exposure to pornography and college sociosexual experimentation are nowhere as large as the relationships between high school and college sociosexual experimentation. Thus it is our conclusion that the relationship between exposure to pornog-
Youth and Pornography in Social Context
307
raphy and college sociosexual experimentation is nowhere as important as the relationship between high school and college sociosexual experimentation. A further note, however, is in order about the relationship between these factors for the men. It seems to us that the men whose high school sociosexual behavior or whose exposure to pornography was relatively high approached the world as a more sexual place than did those who scored lower on either the sociosexual or exposure to pornography indices. While our measures are exclusively behavioral, we feel that the relationships between these variables indicate that these men brought to their interactions a sense of the sexuality of the world, a sense which found expression in their early high levels of sociosexual experimentation of their consumption of pornography (which may have colored their view of the world), or in some combination of these factors. This sexual view of the world is also expressed by the later high sociosexual experimentation of these men who had either or both of the characteristics indicative of this type of world view. CONCLUSIONS
We have used data from two studies to indicate the relationship between exposure to pornography and participation in normal adolescent social behavior. It is our conclusion that the data show that the image of pornography as a powerful behavior-shaping, disease-like force is not in accord with reality. Rather, we view pornography as one component in an individual's media consumption. As with other forms of media, consumption reflects the social position of the consumer. Wlfite sexual behavior and consumption of pornography are related, it is the underlying social position and personal characteristics which cause both. The strength of the relationships, of course, is mediated by these personal characteristics and said positions. The adolescents we have studied are at a stage in the life cycle in which they, for the first time, have to come to grips with both heterosociality and heterosexuality in the context of a world that provides them little training for sexuality. (Even the most advanced sex education courses rarely go beyond reproductive biology and social etiquette.) Yotmg people are left alone to fill in the content of social and sexual scripts with only the most covert and ambiguous cues from society. Dating and the number of friends are not to be construed as the mechanisms which do this but rather as indicators of a broader involvement in a whole complex stage of social development in which the learning process takes place. Similarly, pornography-as inadequate and inaccurate as it may be (and is)-at least provides an imagery and a language and, in a broader sense, perhaps symbolic rehearsals (see the section on fantasy) which facilitate the filling in of the scripts society has left blank.
Berger, Simon, and Gagnon
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There is no evidence here for a conclusion that massive amounts of pornography are circulating through the environment of adolescents. Although definitional problems exist, our highest exposure categories do not include more exposure than would occur through a year's issue o f Playboy magazine, a couple of decks of sexually explicit playing cards, or a few photographic books or magazines. Thus the amount of pornography available seems small in absolute terms, especially in light of the efforts devoted to controlling it. Further, the effort devoted to controlling pornography seems disproportionate to the relationship to behavior we have shown. Even if there were no pornography available, it is obvious that the behavior would not be substantially changed. All in all, our findings from both studies come to the same conclusions as most of the other research sponsored by the Commission-young people are not the major consumers of pornography, and what they do consume does not have the power to deflect them from normal behavioral patterns. As the Kinsey data made clear, sexual development during the middle of adolescence has long been an intrinsic aspect of adolescent development. The strong association between high school sociosexual experimentation and exposure to pornography may have less to do with the implicit attractiveness of pornography than with the society's denial of the fact of the adolescent's sexual development. Clearly, pornography does not initiate sexual experimentation as much as experimentation supports pornography, given the absence of alternative representations of the sexual on anything approaching the existential level.
REFERENCES Berger, A. S., Simon, W., and Gagnon, J. H. (1970a). Pornography: The High School and College Years, Technical Reports to the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, Vol. 9, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Berger, A. S., Simon W., and Gagnon, J. H. (1970b). Urban Working Class Adolescents and Sexually Explicit Media, Technical Reports to the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, Vol. 9, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Gagnon, J. H., Simon, W., and Berger, A. S. (1970). Some aspects of sexual adjustment in early and late adolescence. In Zubin, J. (ed.), The Psychopathology o f Adolescence, Grune and Stratton, New York. Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., Martin, C. E., and Gebhard, P. H. (1953). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia. Simon, W., and Ga~non, J. I-I. (1971). The White Working Class and Its Youth: An Overview, The Institute for Juvenile Research, Chicago (mimeo). Simon, W., Gagnon, J. H., and Berger, A. S. The End o f Adolescence, Harper and Row, New York (forthcoming). Steiner, G. (1967). Nightwords. In Steiner, G. (ed.), Language and Silence, Atheneum Publishing Co., New York.
