Pornography and religiosity: prediction and process

Abstract

Sexual behavior and religious practice are fundamental social dynamics of longstanding interest to communication scholars. Drawing insights from the Reinforcing Spirals Model (RSM) and Sexual Script Acquisition, Activation, Application Model (3AM), this study examined whether (a) religiosity operated primarily as a predictor of later pornography consumption, which in turn predicted heightened sexual permissiveness, or (b) earlier pornography consumption predicted lower religiosity, which in turn predicted increased sexual permissiveness. Analyses of four subsamples from nationally representative three-wave panel data yielded some evidence for both pathways, but support for the latter pathway was more robust. These findings underscore the potential influence of media on attitudes through changes in ostensibly more stable characteristics such as religiosity, in addition to the direct attitudinal effects typically theorized in communication research. They also suggest several areas where the explanatory and predictive power of the RSM and/or 3AM might be enhanced through increased clarity, nuance, and scope.