The production and availability of pornography has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Concerns have been raised regarding pornography’s influence on sexual violence, particularly among men, who constitute the majority of its audience. While a vast body of research has examined the association between pornography use and sexual violence, questions remain regarding the strength of this association, including among Australian men, and its underlying mechanisms.

Drawing on survey responses of almost 2,000 Australian heterosexual cisgender men, this study examined the association of intentional pornography viewing across the life course and self-reported sexual violence perpetration in the 12 months preceding survey completion. It also examined the extent to which this association is mediated by pornography’s effect on respondents’ attitudes towards sex and women. 

The study provides valuable information to inform measures to prevent and counteract any potential negative impacts of violent pornography on sexual behaviour.

Key findings 

• More frequent intentional viewing of violent pornography is associated with a small but statistically significant increase in the probability of having perpetrated sexual violence.
• The probability of perpetrating sexual violence does not significantly change with an increase in the intentional viewing of any (i.e. violent or non-violent) pornography.
• A portion of the relationship between the frequency of intentional violent pornography viewing and sexual violence perpetration is mediated by the degree to which respondents exhibit a promiscuous, emotionally detached orientation towards sex and hostile attitudes towards women.