Pornography, impersonal sex, and sexual aggression: A test of the confluence model in a national probability sample of men in the U.S.

This paper reports findings on men's exposure to extreme pornography, impersonal sexuality, and sexual aggression from the National Survey of Porn Use, Relationships, and Sexual Socialization, a U.S. population-based probability study. Despite Malamuth's confluence model (CM) of sexual aggression positing that an impersonal approach to sex interacts with exposure to pornography to predict the likelihood of committing sexual assault, only a few studies have actually tested this prediction. Additionally, the data from the only previous nationally representative study were gathered more than 30 years ago. Results of the present study generally supported the CM. Extreme pornography exposure and impersonal sexuality were both associated with a higher probability of sexual aggression. Although impersonal sex was a robust predictor in and of itself, men who were more exposed to pornography and impersonal in their approach to sex were more likely to be sexually aggressive than men who were impersonal in their approach to sex but less exposed to pornography. Results maintained when indicators of sex drive were included in analyses. The only finding inconsistent with the CM was that the association between pornography exposure and sexual aggression was stronger among men lower rather than higher in impersonal sex.