Attitudes of University Students Regarding the Censorship of Pornography By: Mike Brisson and Trenton Vey

Who Was Involved? Sixty university students living on campus, thirty males and thirty females All types of residence accommodation were equally well represented 15 males from an all-male residence, 15 females from an all female residence, and 15 males and 15 females from a co-ed residence

Hypotheses Those who are presented with a persuasive paragraph will have harsher attitudes than those who are free to form their own opinions. Females will have harsher attitudes toward the censorship of pornography than males regardless of whether or not they are presented with a persuasive paragraph.

Materials 1 Likert scale Questionnaire with 6 questions 1 Persuasive paragraph which discusses negative aspects of pornography

Procedure stratified sampling method was used to collect a representative sample of the student population living in residence at Acadia University. We drew random samples from each strata (co-ed, all female, all male residences) Our experimental condition involved the participant reading a paragraph in favour of the censorship of pornography.

Procedure Subjects assigned to the control condition were not given any reading and were free to form their own opinion regarding the censorship of pornography participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their opinions toward the censorship of pornography. We ensured random assignment of the subjects by mixing together the questionnaires with a reading attached and the questionnaires without a reading attached in no particular order in the same pile.

Results Participants who received the persuasive paragraph had significantly harsher attitudes toward pornography than those who did not receive the persuasive paragraph, t(58) = 2.548, p <.05. Females did not have significantly harsher attitudes toward the censorship of pornography than males, t(58) = , p >.05

Secondary Results Although females did not have significantly higher total scores, they had significantly stronger attitudes toward the censorship of pornography, t(58) = , p <.01. They also agreed more with the statement “pornography should be illegal,” t(58) = 2.004, p <.05.

Secondary Results The persuasive paragraph had a significant influence in people’s attitudes regarding the censorship of violence vs. the censorship of pornography, t(58) = 2.724, p <.05. It also had a significant effect on people’s opinions regarding whether or not pornography should be illegal, t(58) = 2.271, p <.05.

Discussion Hypothesis was supported by results. People who read the persuasive paragraph had harsher attitudes toward pornography than those who were free to form their own opinion However, our results did not support our second hypothesis that females have harsher attitudes toward pornography than males. Reasons it was not supported may be due to the environment that participants were raised in or possible positive experiences with porn.

Implications The attitudes of university students can be easily swayed by subjective, bias attitudes given to them by those who claim to be professionals The attitudes of other, more uneducated people would likely even be more heavily influenced as they are not as immersed in critical thought.

Ideas For Future Studies Study a more general population. Do not only use university students. Use people from youth to old age. Use a large sample have the experimental group (those who received the persuasive paragraph) fill out the questionnaire first. Then give them the paragraph, and then let them redo the questionnaire either right away or a few days later. This would give a better idea if the paragraph was effective in persuading individual.

Appendix A (Paragraph) “Pornography is unequal sex, part and parcel of sexual inequality” (Steinem, 1980, cited in Cowan and Dunn, 1994). “It sexualises the subordination of women and is a form of sex discrimination” (Cowan and Dunn, 1994). “In one research line, several investigators have shown that even very brief exposure to violent pornography is sufficient to cause men to fantasise about rape (Malamuth, 1981, cited in Fisher and Grenier, 1994), to increase men’s acceptance of rape myths (Donnerstein, Berkowitz, & Linz, 1986, cited in Fisher and Grenier, 1994), and to increase men’s direct physical aggression against a woman in a laboratory setting” (Donnerstein and Berkowitz, 1981, cited in Fisher and Grenier, 1994). Also, “numerous investigators have concluded that violent pornographic images are common in sex magazines, videos, and adult bookstore materials and are on the increase” (Fisher and Grenier, 1994).

Appendix B (Questionnaire) Age: _____ Sex: ________ strongly disagree strongly agree 1. Graphic pornography should be censored Harmful effects stem from graphic pornography Graphic pornography is too easily accessible Availability of graphic pornography should be regulated Graphic pornography needs to be censored more than graphic violence. 6. Pornography should be illegal