Generation XXX

Carroll et al. / Pornography and Emerging Adulthood 17
majority of emerging adult women using pornography reported a once a
month or less pattern of usage, and only 3.2% of women reported a use pattern
of weekly or more. An intriguing pattern surfaced when the data on
pornography acceptance were transposed on emerging adults’ reported
usage rates of pornography. For emerging adult men, approximately 1 in 5
reported that they used pornography but did not believe that it is an acceptable
behavior, whereas among emerging adult women, approximately 1 in
5 reported that pornography is acceptable, but they did not personally use
pornography.
In the absence of longitudinal data, the best way to ascertain if pornography
usage and acceptance rates vary across emerging adulthood is to compare
usage rates across age cohorts within the developmental period. As such, our
sample was divided into three age cohorts (18- and 19-year-olds, n = 397; 20to
22-year-olds, n = 337; and 23- to 26-year-olds, n = 79), and MANCOVA
(multiple analysis of covariance) comparisons were computed on emerging
adult men’s and women’s usage and acceptance rates of pornography. Because
previous research has found that risk behaviors typically peak at about age 22
(Arnett, 2006; Schulenberg & Zarrett, 2006), we included a measure of binge
drinking (i.e., the item from the Substance Use Scale) in these age comparisons
to investigate if pornography use followed a similar pattern.
These analyses revealed that for emerging adult men, there were significant
differences between the age cohorts on binge-drinking rates but not on
pornography use or acceptance (MANCOVA: emerging adult men, F = 3.50,
df = 3, p < .05). In particular, emerging adult men followed the expected
pattern, with men aged 23 to 26 reporting significantly less (p < .01) binge
drinking (M = 1.21, SD = 1.26) than their younger counterparts (18- and 19year-olds,
M = 1.84, SD = 1.47; 20- to 22-year-olds, M = 1.86, SD = 1.42).
Although slight declines in pornography use and acceptance were found for
men aged 23 to 26, these differences did not reach statistical significance.
Emerging adult women followed a similar pattern (MANCOVA: emerging
adult women, F = 5.08, df = 3, p < .01), with older emerging adults reporting
significantly less (p < .01) binge drinking behavior (23- to 26-year-olds, M =
1.07, SD = 1.10) than younger women (18- and 19-year-olds, M = 1.37, SD =
1.31; 20- to 22-year-olds, M = 1.32, SD = 1.28); however, pornography use
patterns remained steady across the three groups, and a significant increase
(p < .01) in the acceptance of pornography was identified between women
aged 23 to 26 (M = 3.63, SD = 1.20) and women aged 18 or 19 (M = 3.05,
SD = 1.29). It is interesting to note that although gender differences in pornography
use remain consistent across the three age cohorts, increases in the
acceptance of pornography among older emerging adult women place men’s