Is pornography use associated with anti-woman sexual aggression? Re-examining the Confluence Model with third variable considerations

Abstract

The Confluence Model of sexual aggression (Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000) states that pornography use, thought to promote sexual coercion of women through presentation of submissive female imagery, works in conjunction with sexual promiscuity (SP) and hostile masculinity (HM), proposed sexual aggression risk factors, to produce anti-woman sexual aggression. An Internet based survey (N=183 adult males) replicated results of previous Confluence Model research, such that men who were high in HM and SP were more likely to report sexual coercion when they frequently, rather than infrequently, used pornography. Exploring new ground, this study also found that HM and SP together were strong predictors of consumption of violent sexual media, in comparison to non-violent sexual media, which suggests that men at high risk of sexual aggression consume different types of sexual material than men at low risk. Further, individual differences in sex drive were found to account for the effects previously attributed to pornography use in statistical tests of the Confluence Model. In the light of third variable considerations, these findings warrant a careful reappraisal of the Confluence Model's assertion that pornography use is a causal determinant of anti-woman sexual aggression.