Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Women's Age Of First Exposure To Internet Pornography Predicts Sexual Victimization, Sarah J. Harsey, Laura K. Noll, Melissa J. Miller, Ryan A. Shallcross

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Increases in the availability and accessibility of Internet pornography have led growing numbers of children to become consumers of sexually explicit media. Research has identified negative behavioral and attitudinal outcomes associated with Internet pornography use in childhood and adolescence, but few studies have examined sexual victimization as a correlate. The current study aimed to examine the association between age of first Internet pornography exposure and sexual victimization. Data from 154 undergraduate women yielded several important findings. Women who viewed Internet pornography unintentionally at a younger age reported more sexual victimization. Specifically, compared to women who were first unintentionally exposed to …