Internet pornography: a social psychological perspective on internet sexuality

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2001 by William A. Fisher, Azy Barak

Sexual Stimuli--Affective Responses--Sexual Behavior

The Sexual Behavior Sequence asserts that individuals respond to erotic stimuli with affective and evaluative responses as well as with physiological sexual arousal. According to the Sexual Behavior Sequence, affective and evaluative responses to sexual stimuli, along with physiological sexual arousal responses to such stimuli, will together influence the occurrence of preparatory sexual behavior, overt sexual behavior, and the subjective outcome of such behavior (see Figure 2).

From the perspective of the Sexual Behavior Sequence, individuals acquire affective and evaluative responses to erotic stimuli as a function of the association of erotic stimuli with rewarding or punishing experiences over the life span (Fisher, 1986; Fisher et al., 1988). An individual who has experienced predominantly rewarding experiences in association with sexuality is expected to develop a generalized trait disposition of erotophilia and should respond to sexual cues with positive affect and evaluations. An individual who has experienced predominantly punishing experiences in association with sexuality is expected to develop a generalized trait disposition of erotophobia and should respond to sexual cues with negative affect and evaluations. Positive affective and evaluative responses to sexual stimuli should incline the individual to engage in preparatory sexual behavior and sexual behavior and to experience the outcome of this sexual behavior as subjectively positive. Such a positive outcome will strengthen the future likelihood of further contact with similar sexual stimuli, the future likelihood of similar arousal and affective and evaluative responses, similar preparatory and overt sexual behaviors, and similar outcomes. In contrast, negative affective and evaluative responses to sexual stimuli should motivate the sexually stimulated individual to avoid the sort of preparatory sexual behavior and overt sexual behavior suggested by the sexual stimulus and to experience the sexual stimulus, and any arousal or behavior which it eventuates, as hedonically negative events that will condition future avoidance of sexual stimulation of the sort that triggered this sequence of responses.

According to the Sexual Behavior Sequence, then, experience with Internet sexually explicit materials will be a self-regulated activity that will take place in part as a function of an individual's erotophobic or erotophilic disposition to respond to Internet sexuality with positive or negative affect and evaluations. Erotophilic individuals should seek out and enjoy Internet sexually explicit materials, and may incorporate what is acquired from Internet sexually explicit materials into their preparatory and overt sexual behaviors, and should enjoy these behaviors, all else being equal. This sequence of responses, involving additional pairings of sexuality with positive affective responses, should also strengthen the erotophilic disposition which provoked it in the first place. Erotophobic individuals, in contrast, will experience contact with Internet sexually explicit materials as an emotionally negative event and will evaluate such materials negatively and avoid contact with them. By extension, erotophobic individuals will also avoid preparatory and overt sexual behaviors related to Internet sexually explicit materials. This sequence of responses, involving additional pairing of sexuality with negative affect, should strengthen the individual's erotophobic disposition and his or her inclination to avoid Internet sexually explicit materials in the future.