Moderating Effects on the Link between Violent Pornography and Sexual Aggression

Sexual violence remains a widespread problem among university students, with negative consequences ranging from mental and physical health problems to academic effects and interpersonal issues. Sexual scripts form the blueprint for sexual interactions. Such scripts are influenced by personal experience, as well as exposure to external sources. One such source is violent pornography, with its effect on sexual violence perpetration established in various studies. The aim of this study was to examine the link between violent pornography consumption and sexual violence perpetration. Further, we examined the moderating effects of perceived pornography realism and peer rape myth acceptance (RMA). University students (N = 686, 63.4% female) from The Netherlands participated in this online survey study. Male participants held more positive views toward pornography, viewed more frequently and more deviant content, and their perceived peer RMA was higher than that of women. Results indicated that, particularly for male students, viewing violent pornography increased the risk of sexual violence perpetration. This effect was further exacerbated if pornography was perceived as realistic and peer RMA was high. No such association between violent pornography and sexual violence perpetration was found for women, but this link was observed if peer RMA was high. Implications for prevention focusing on porn literacy initiatives and peer groups are discussed.