proved a boon to the industry. The total market for
adult material in the United States is now estimated to
be $13 billion a year.
The subjective experience of viewing sexually
explicit materials and societal reactions to their avail-
ability are characterized by shifting definitions and
mores. Over the past 150 years, concern about the
psychological effects of exposure to pornography on
the viewer’s character, morality, and, lately, tendency
to engage in sexually violent behavior has driven
social/legal policy as well as social science research
on the problem of pornography.
Psychological investigations have focused on how
the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals
are influenced by exposure to sexually explicit mes-
sages. To understand pornography research, it is use-
ful to consider it in the context of the debate about
pornography’s effects in society. The terms of this
debate have often framed the research agenda. One
way of organizing the theory and research on the
effects of sexually explicit material is by the norma-
tive concepts pornography, erotica, and obscenity.
The term obsceneis derived from the Latin ob, mean-
ing “to,” and caenum, meaning “filth.” Obscenity has
traditionally been associated with filth and offensive-
ness, disgust, shame, and the idea of insulting or
breaching an accepted community moral standard.
Pornographyis derived from the Greek porne, mean-
ing “whore,” and graphein, meaning “to write.”
Pornography then literally means the “writing of har-
lots” or the depiction of women as prostitutes.
Erotica, derived from the Greek god Eros, refers to
sexual love. It is often used to refer to literary or artis-
tic works that have a sexual quality or theme.The Obscenity Theoretical Perspective
Currently, the law in the United States is organized
around a test formulated for obscenity fashioned by
the Supreme Court in 1973, which emphasizes the
filth and offensiveness, disgust and shame associated
with viewing sexually explicit materials. The test
states that the basic guidelines for the trier of fact
must be (a) whether “the average person, applying
contemporary community standards” would find that
the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient
interest (defined as a “shameful, morbid, unhealthy
interest in sex”); (b) whether the work depicts or
describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct
specifically defined by applicable state law; and(c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious
literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
This test with its focus on community standards has
meant that magazines such as Playboyand Penthouse
may be banned in towns with conservative values.
Theoretically, the decision makes every local commu-
nity the arbiter of what is acceptable. Both the prose-
cution and the defense are entitled to introduce
evidence during an obscenity prosecution regarding
the types of depictions a given community will accept
given the current social climate, social mores, and so
on. The evidence of community standards may include
expert testimony, surveys, and comparable materials.
The social-psychological research on perceptions
of community standards for sexually explicit depic-
tions has involved several communities across the
United States and has found considerable slippage
between community sentiment and legal actors’
presumptions. In a few studies, community residents
were randomly assigned to view sexually explicit
films charged in obscenity cases. The results showed
that residents believed, contrary to prosecutors, that
sexually explicit films charged in the case do not
appeal to a morbid unhealthy interest in sex and are
not patently offensive. The community members indi-
cate that they would be substantially less accepting of
sexually explicit materials, however, if they contained
rape and bondage, and they show no acceptance of
child actors. Other research has confirmed that the
majority of residents randomly selected from the com-
munity do not judge materials before the court to
appeal to a prurient interest in sex and have tolerance
for such materials. A lower percentage of people
believe that others in the community tolerated the
materials they personally found acceptable.
Psychological research has been conducted on the
idea that exposure to sexually explicit materials insults
or breaches an accepted moral standard and that these
materials induce greater promiscuity and a loss of
respect for marriage and fidelity and other traditional
moral values. This research has attempted to test the
hypothesis derived from the “obscenity” theoretical
perspective that exposure to sexually explicit material
has a corrosive effect on men’s relationships with
women and a negative impact on male intimacy and
sexual performance and satisfaction within marriage.
The survey research suggests that people who
report being happily married are less likely to report
using Internet pornography. This research supports the
idea that married women may be distressed by their602 ———Pornography, Effects of Exposure toP-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 602