Pornography Consumption and Sexual Choking: An Evaluation of Theoretical Mechanisms

Many researchers interested In the socializing effects of pornography have found heuristic utility in the sexual script acquisition, activation, application model (₃AM) of mediated sexual socialization. Studies have emphasized overall pornography/sexual behavior associations, however, rather than mediating sexual beliefs that a ₃AM perspective suggests should underlie such associations. The present study used data from a campus-representative probability sample to examine whether linkages between pornography use and heterosexual-identified collegiate men's choking of sexual partners is mediated by the belief that sexual choking is pleasurable, the belief that sexual choking is safe, and the disbelief that sexual choking requires consent from the person being choked. Sexual choking has been increasingly identified as a focal point of contemporary mixed-sex pornography as well as young men's sexual behavior; it can also result in adverse health and legal consequences. Results were consistent with a sequential model positing that consuming pornography more frequently leads to more exposure to pornographic depictions of sexual choking, which in turn predicts a higher likelihood of choking sexual partners through the belief that sexual choking is pleasurable, the belief that sexual choking is safe, and the disbelief that sexual choking requires consent from the person being choked.