Just a Little Bit Longer: Viewing Time of Erotic Material from a Self-Control Perspective

Abstract

Summary For many individuals, watching erotic material constitutes a self-control conflict in which reflective tendencies compete with impulsive urges for the control of behavior. Boundary conditions such as the ability to control attention determine which influence will prevail over the other. Here, we tested this framework in the context of viewing erotic videos. Reflective tendencies, as indicated by self-reported attitudes, predicted viewing time of erotic videos for individuals high, but not low, in attention control. By contrast, impulsive tendencies, as indicated by automatic associations toward sex, predicted viewing time for individuals low, but not high, in attention control. This effect was particularly pronounced for single individuals. The adoption of a self-control framework to research on viewing erotic material has several advantages, including a better understanding of the psychological processes involved in watching erotic material, an illustration of these processes' interactive dynamic, and a more fine-grained prediction of viewing time behavior. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.