Women's Attitudes and Fantasies About Rape as a Function of Early Exposure to Pornography

• NCJ Number: 139785
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1992) Pages: 454-462
• Author(s): S Corne; J Briere; L M Esses
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A questionnaire was completed by 187 female undergraduate psychology students for a study designed to test the idea that women's attitudes and fantasies about rape are partially a function of their socialization to accept sexual aggression as normative.

Abstract

Self-reported early exposure to pornography was associated with women's later attitudes and fantasies about rape as hypothesized. Of 187 women, 86 (46 percent) reported direct exposure to pornography as a child. This exposure was significantly related to subsequent adult rape fantasies and rape supportive beliefs. The data do not necessarily support the concept that childhood exposure to pornography directly or uniquely causes rape supportive attitudes or fantasies. More likely, early contact with pornography exemplifies a broader socialization process for some women that portrays sexual aggression as culturally desirable to some extent. 1 table and 30 references