Generation XXX

24 Journal of Adolescent Research
drinking may be justified, in that pornography use was found to be moderately
correlated with emerging adult men’s frequency of alcohol consumption
and their rates of binge drinking, even after controlling for a number of
variables that may be thought to contribute to both of these behaviors (e.g.,
impulsivity, religiosity). Emerging adult women were split when it came to
the topic of pornography. About half of emerging adult women were
accepting of pornography use among their peers, but only about 1 in 10
viewed pornography with any regularity. It may be possible that the measures
that were utilized in this study influenced this finding, in that they
assessed visual media of pornography (Internet, magazines, movies) rather
than narrative-based erotica, which may be more appealing to women.
However, even with this consideration, the differences between pornography
use and acceptance among emerging adult men and women form a
notable finding that requires exploration in future research.
Another notable finding of this study was that the acceptance of pornography
was as strongly correlated with emerging adults’ attitudes and behaviors
as their actual pornography use was (or more so). This finding suggests
that pornography should be regarded as much as a value stance or a personal
sexual ethic as it is a behavioral pattern. This may be a particularly
salient finding for emerging adult women who report higher levels of
acceptance than actual use of pornography. Furthermore, pornography
acceptance among women was a stronger correlate with permissive sexuality,
alcohol use, binge drinking, and cigarette smoking than was actual
pornography use. For men, the acceptance of pornography was more highly
correlated with their sexual attitudes and family formation values than was
pornography use. These findings highlight that scholars need to define
pornography in terms of both values and behavior.
Transitions in and out of Emerging Adulthood
In addition to examining the overall usage rates of pornography among
emerging adults, subanalyses were also run to determine if rates of pornography
use differed significantly for early, middle, and late emerging adults.
These analyses identified that the rates of pornography use were relatively
stable across emerging adulthood. These patterns also suggest that pornography
patterns are established during adolescence or are rapidly developed
in emerging adulthood. The much lower levels of reported pornography use
among adolescents (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005) suggest that the latter explanation
is more plausible, but future research is needed to confirm this possibility.
The age pattern found in the current study is notable because it