Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Psychology/Clinical

Many people report experiencing distress resulting from their pornography use, even when their use is non-dysregulated. A recent body of work has shown that moral disapproval of pornography, rather than objectively excessive pornography use, is often a better predictor of this type of distress than the actual amount of pornography an individual consumes. Despite this, there is a limited understanding of the reasons for such moral opposition. The present study aimed to better understand these reasons by utilizing open-ended questioning. Although prior research has assessed characteristics that influence the reasoning behind moral opposition to pornography, limited research has explored these reasons with open-ended questioning to understand this phenomenon in the participants' language. This study also assessed the relationship between the reasons given for moral disapproval of pornography and both frequency and recency of pornography use. Analyses were carried out using an archival data set of a nationally representative U.S. sample, restricted to individuals who reported moral beliefs opposing pornography (N = 1,020). Results revealed 14 unique reasons reported by participants for their moral disapproval of pornography, although none of these reasons predicted pornography use. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Committee: Joshua Grubbs Ph.D. (Advisor); Abby Braden Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anne Gordon Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Psychology/Clinical

Limited prior research has explored the nature of specific sexual values; though, more recent research has begun exploring sexual congruence (i.e., the degree of alignment between sexual values and behaviors). People are generally motivated to achieve consistency between values and behaviors, yet research has demonstrated that many people struggle to do so. The present study aimed to better understand the nature of commonly endorsed sexual values in the general population, as well as the direct association between sexual values and incongruence. Because religion has previously been identified as a predictor of sexual incongruence, this study explored the possibility that upholding restrictive sexual values may predict sexual incongruence over and above religiousness. Secondary analysis of archival data was conducted using a weighted nationally representative sample (N = 2,519). Results revealed sexual values commonly endorsed by the sample, including values around consent, commitment, hedonism, love, sex as natural, religion/spirituality, privacy, safety, heterosexuality, reproduction, and anything as acceptable. As hypothesized, sexual values pertaining to abstinence, religion/spirituality, commitment, and heterosexuality were correlated with one another, and these values were related to religiousness. Further, consent-related values were correlated with values surrounding privacy and anything as acceptable, and these values were associated with lower levels of religiousness. Results demonstrated that specific sexual values were associated with sexual incongruence. Although religiousness significantly predicted sexual incongruence, sexual values significantly predicted additional variance in sexual incongruence, over and above the effects of religiousness.

Committee: Joshua Grubbs PhD (Advisor); Meagan Docherty PhD (Committee Member); Annette Mahoney PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology