Boys who watch pornography from an early age are more likely to grow into misogynistic men who objectify women, a new study has revealed.
And the younger they begin to watch the adult content the higher the chance of them wanting power over the opposite sex later in life.
But boys exposed to pornography at an older age were more likely to engage in ‘playboy’ promiscuous behavior.
The study involved a group of 330 men where the average first exposure was from the age of 13, with the youngest exposure as early as five and the latest older than 26.
Doctoral student Alyssa Bischmann at the University of Nebraska said: “The goal of our study was to examine how age of first exposure to pornography, and the nature of said first exposure, predicts conformity to two masculine norms: playboy — or sexually promiscuous behavior — and seeking power over women.”
Co-author masters student Christina Richardson added: “The most interesting finding from this study was that older age at first exposure predicted greater adherence to the playboy masculine norms.
“That finding has sparked many more questions and potential research ideas because it was so unexpected based on what we know about gender role socialization and media exposure.”
The team surveyed 330 undergraduate men aged 17 to 54 and asked them about their first exposure to pornography, the age they were when it happened, whether it was intentional, accidental or forced.
Over two fifths of those surveyed — 43.5 percent — said their first exposure was accidental, a third — 33 percent — of first experiences were intentional and over a sixth — 17 percent — were “forced.”
Bischmann said: “We found that the younger a man was when he first viewed pornography, the more likely he was to want power over women.
“The older a man was when he first viewed pornography, the more likely he would want to engage in playboy behavior.”
The authors believe their findings may be affected by unexamined variables including negative sexual experiences and whether their first experience to pornography was positive or negative.
It also did not matter how the participants were exposed, as the researchers found no significant association between the nature of the exposure and attitudes.
The findings provide further evidence that viewing pornography has a real impact on heterosexual men particularly about their view on sex roles.
Bischmann said that knowing more about the relationship between men’s pornography use and beliefs about women could assist sex assault prevention efforts.
She added: “We were surprised that the type of exposure did not affect whether someone wanted power over women or to engage in playboy behaviors.
“We had expected that intentional, accidental or forced experiences would have differing outcomes.”
The study was presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.