Introduction
The consumption of pornography is a very common sexual practice, especially among the male population (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, García-Barba, Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García and Gil-Llario2023). Its prevalence has increased significantly with the advent of the Internet, which has facilitated its consumption due to the “Triple A” factors: accessibility, affordability, and anonymity (Cooper, Reference Cooper1998). Primarily, pornography is used for erotic purposes or masturbation. However, it also may serve as a source of sexual education, satisfying curiosity, and helping to manage emotions such as stress or boredom (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, Castro-Calvo, García-Barba, Ruiz-Palomino and Gil-Llario2021; Castro-Calvo et al., Reference Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García, Gil-Llario and Ballester-Arnal2018; Emmers-Sommer, Reference Emmers-Sommer2018).
Regarding consumption rates, based on a U.S. sample of individuals aged 18 to 73, 96.8% of men had watched porn on the Internet at some point in their lives, and 66.6% were current consumers (Kasper et al., Reference Kasper, Short and Milam2015). Another U.S. study reported similar results: 98.9% of men aged 18 to 73 had consumed online pornography at some point, 92.3% in the past year, and 91.5% in the last month (Solano et al., Reference Solano, Eaton and O’Leary2018). In China, a study found that 96.5% of men aged 18 to 58 had consumed erotic material online in the past 12 months (Zheng & Zheng, Reference Zheng and Zheng2014). In Canada, 90.2% of men aged 18 to 78 had consumed online pornography in the past 6 months (Blais-Lecours et al., Reference Blais-Lecours, Vaillancourt-Morel, Sabourin and Godbout2016). In Australia, among individuals aged 16 to 69, 84% of men had watched pornographic material at some point, and 76% had consumed it in the past year (Rissel et al., Reference Rissel, Richters, De Visser, McKee, Yeung and Caruana2017). The slightly lower figures in Australia may be due to the inclusion of underage individuals in the sample.
In Europe, a study conducted in Norway with a population aged 18 to 59 revealed that 94% of men had watched pornography at some point in their lives, regardless of sexual orientation (Træen & Daneback, Reference Træen and Daneback2013). In Spain, there is limited research on this topic. In line with the few studies, among Spanish men aged 18 to 40, 98% had seen pornographic images and/or films (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, Castro-Calvo, García-Barba, Ruiz-Palomino and Gil-Llario2021), and 97% had ever consumed pornography (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, García-Barba, Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García and Gil-Llario2023).
In this context, scientific literature has revealed potential negative consequences associated with its use. Higher consumption has been linked to lower sexual satisfaction (Bennett-Brown & Wright, Reference Bennett-Brown and Wright2022; Blais-Lecours et al., Reference Blais-Lecours, Vaillancourt-Morel, Sabourin and Godbout2016; Wright, Steffen & Sun, Reference Wright, Steffen and Sun2019) and lower relationship satisfaction (Bennett-Brown & Wright, Reference Bennett-Brown and Wright2022; Ferron et al., Reference Ferron, Lussier, Sabourin and Brassard2016), as well as increased concerns about sexual performance and body image (Sun et al., Reference Sun, Bridges, Johnson and Ezzell2016). Pornography consumption has also been associated with risky sexual behaviors, such as reduced condom use (Tokunaga et al., Reference Tokunaga, Wright and Vangeel2020; Wright et al., Reference Wright, Tokunaga and Kraus2016b; Wright, Reference Wright2022), engagement in casual sex (Vandenbosch & van Oosten, Reference Vandenbosch and van Oosten2018), early initiation of sexual activity, and a higher number of sexual partners (Rasmussen & Bierman, Reference Rasmussen and Bierman2018). Additionally, a correlation has been observed between pornography consumption and an increased incidence of sexual and verbal assaults (Waterman et al., Reference Waterman, Wesche, Morris, Edwards and Banyard2022; Wright et al., Reference Wright, Tokunaga and Kraus2016a).
Despite these potential consequences, watching erotic material has also shown a positive impact on the experience of sexuality and sexual well-being and satisfaction, especially when consumption is occasional (Wright, Miezan & Sun, Reference Wright, Miezan and Sun2019). In a study conducted by Rissel et al. (Reference Rissel, Richters, De Visser, McKee, Yeung and Caruana2017) in Australia, involving people aged 16 to 69, the vast majority of participants believed that pornography could enhance the pleasure experienced during masturbation and improve sexual relationships. Another study conducted on heterosexual couples in Canada (Kohut et al., Reference Kohut, Fisher and Campbell2017) found that consuming pornography facilitated better sexual communication, increased sexual experimentation, and enhanced sexual comfort within the relationship. Pornography consumption has also been associated with increased interest in sex, greater acceptance of various sexual acts, and more sexual experimentation (Hakkim et al., Reference Hakkim, Parsa, Arafat, Mahmud, Sathian, Sivasubramanian and Kabir2022).
Pornography allows sexual exploration and the discovery of sexual preferences, as well as the understanding and development of one’s own sexual intimacy (Attwood et al., Reference Attwood, Smith and Barker2018). This exploration takes place within a safe and intimate context provided by the Internet (Cooper, Reference Cooper1998). Through pornography, individuals can explore practices that may not be readily accessible in daily life, such as certain fetishes or sexual behaviors associated with different sexual orientations (Donevan & Mattebo, Reference Donevan and Mattebo2017; Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017; Hald & Štulhofer, Reference Hald and Štulhofer2016; Yu, Reference Yu2013). In a study conducted with men from the United States, 20.7% of self-identified heterosexual men had watched male–male pornography in the past 6 months, and 55% of self-identified gay men had watched male–female pornography (Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017). As observed, consuming pornography depicting different sexual orientations is a fairly common practice.
However, this exploration may involve feelings of discomfort, generally understood as an unpleasant state experienced by the human body in response to its physical environment. This sensation is inherently subjective, making it challenging—if not impossible—to objectively measure at a specific moment in time. Beyond its physical dimension, discomfort also encompasses psychological or emotional aspects, and may originate from cognitive processes or emerge within social and relational contexts, highlighting its complex and multifaceted nature (Cohen-Lazry et al., Reference Cohen-Lazry, Degani, Oron-Gilad and Hancock2023). In this context, feelings of discomfort may arise when a person becomes aroused by material that aligns with a different sexual orientation (Walters & Spengler, Reference Walters and Spengler2016), as it creates a dissonance with their own identity and self-concept (Priolo et al., Reference Priolo, Milhabet, Codou, Fointiat, Lebarbenchon and Gabarrot2016).
Despite the large number of studies on pornography consumption in men, few investigations address the specific type of material (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, García-Barba, Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García and Gil-Llario2023; Donevan & Mattebo, Reference Donevan and Mattebo2017; Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017; Hald & Štulhofer, Reference Hald and Štulhofer2016; Yu, Reference Yu2013), and none of them address the potential discomfort associated with consuming material that contradicts one’s own sexual orientation. In fact, only one study provides an analysis based on sexual orientation (Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017), which found that in the past 6 months, 98.5% of heterosexual men and 88.3% of bisexual men had consumed male–female porn, compared to 55% of gay men. Regarding male–male porn, 98.3% of gay men and 96% of bisexual men had consumed it, compared to 20.7% of heterosexual men. Finally, 83.6% of heterosexual men had consumed female–female pornography in the past 6 months, followed by 41.1% of bisexual men and 3.3% of gay men. In theory, bisexual individuals should be similarly aroused by both male and female stimuli (Lippa, Reference Lippa2013; Rosenthal et al., Reference Rosenthal, Sylva, Safron and Bailey2012). However, according to Downing et al. (Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017), bisexual men exhibited greater arousal to male–female and male–male pornography, i.e., content featuring men. To delve deeper into these findings, Rosenthal et al. (Reference Rosenthal, Sylva, Safron and Bailey2012) proposed the seven-point Kinsey scale of sexual attraction (ranging from “exclusively heterosexual” to “exclusively homosexual”) instead of comparing sexual orientation labels. This approach could allow for a more precise analysis of variability in sexual attraction.
One aspect that could explain the arousal differences among sexual orientation groups is the attentional focus when watching pornography. Some studies have analyzed this attentional focus (Wenzlaff et al., Reference Wenzlaff, Briken and Dekker2016), finding different patterns, for example, between men and women (Hall et al., Reference Hall, Hogue and Guo2011; Lykins et al., Reference Lykins, Meana and Strauss2008), and among men of different sexual orientations (Morandini et al., Reference Morandini, Veldre, Holcombe, Hsu, Lykins, Bailey and Dar-Nimrod2019). Specifically, Morandini et al. (Reference Morandini, Veldre, Holcombe, Hsu, Lykins, Bailey and Dar-Nimrod2019) observed that exclusively heterosexual and mostly heterosexual men showed similar attention to sexually explicit images of women. However, mostly heterosexual men demonstrated greater attention to male erotic material than exclusively heterosexual men. It would be interesting to analyze these patterns to determine if differences also exist among men of other sexual orientations.
To address this gap, our study is conducted on men with different sexual attractions (exclusively heterosexual, somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, somewhat gay, and exclusively gay), including various types of pornography (male–female, female–female, male–male), and explores the variable of discomfort. Furthermore, considering that male–female pornography is the most well-known and consumed (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, García-Barba, Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García and Gil-Llario2023; Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017), it also examines what men focus on when consuming this type of pornography and why, to determine if there are also differences based on sexual attraction in these aspects.
In this context, we propose these hypotheses based on previous studies (Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017; Morandini et al., Reference Morandini, Veldre, Holcombe, Hsu, Lykins, Bailey and Dar-Nimrod2019; Træen & Daneback, Reference Træen and Daneback2013):
Hypothesis 1. There will be no differences in the general consumption of pornography by sexual attraction.
Hypothesis 2. Based on sexual attraction, men will exhibit different consumption patterns of male–female, female–female, and male–male content. Specifically, exclusively heterosexual men are expected to consume more male–female and female–female pornography, while exclusively gay men will consume more male–male and male–female pornography. Men with nonexclusive sexual attractions will likely show high consumption of all three types of pornography.
Hypothesis 3. Men’s arousal levels in response to male–female, female–female, and male–male pornography will vary according to their sexual attraction. Exclusively heterosexual men are predicted to be more aroused by male–female and female–female pornography, whereas exclusively gay men are expected to be more aroused by male–male and male–female pornography. Those with nonexclusive sexual attractions are likely to exhibit high arousal across all three types of pornography.
Furthermore, we propose two research questions to explore, as there are no studies on this specific subject:
Research Question 1. What are men focusing on when watching male–female pornography, and why do they pay attention to these aspects?
Research Question 2. Will men exhibit differences based on their sexual attraction in their level of discomfort when consuming pornography with different content?
Method
Participants
A total of 1,133 men between 18 and 40 years old (M = 24.78; SD = 5.91) participated in this study. All participants resided in Spain and came from various geographical areas of the country. Regarding their sexual orientation, 73.9% self-identified as heterosexual, 16.3% as bisexual, and 9.8% as gay. Additionally, the majority were atheists or agnostics (65.5%), had a university education (51.5% with a bachelor’s degree), identified as politically progressive (46.1%), and came from urban areas (38.7%). As shown in Table 1, significant differences by sexual attraction were found only in age, level of education, and political ideology, although these differences had a small effect size.
Table 1. Main sociodemographic characteristics of participants
Note: χ 2 = Chi-square test; df = Degrees of freedom.
*p < .05; *** p < .001.
Measures
Firstly, sociodemographic data were collected, including age, religious beliefs, level of education, political ideology, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Additionally, based on Kinsey et al. (Reference Kinsey, Pomeroy and Martin1948), sexual attraction was evaluated using a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (“I am attracted exclusively to the opposite sex”) to 7 (“I am attracted exclusively to the same sex”). An additional option was provided for individuals who do not feel attraction to any sex.
Secondly, a 94-item questionnaire was used. This questionnaire had been utilized in previous studies by the authors of this manuscript (Giménez-García et al., Reference Giménez-García, Nebot-Garcia, Ruiz-Palomino, García-Barba and Ballester-Arnal2022; Nebot-Garcia et al., Reference Nebot-Garcia, Giménez-García, García-Barba, Gil-Llario and Ballester-Arnal2022). It explored various aspects of sexuality, as well as experiences related to sexual orientation and associated discomfort. The different items were based on Likert-type scales, with dichotomous responses, single-choice, or multiple-choice options. However, in this study, only a total of eight items related to pornography consumption were used, with dichotomous, single-choice, or multiple-choice responses, grouped into three scales (Appendix A):
Pornography viewing and arousal
Through three single-choice questions, participants reported whether they had ever been aroused when watching male–female erotic material (heterosexual pornography—item 1), female–female erotic material (lesbian pornography—item 2), or male–male erotic material (gay pornography—item 3), and they were required to respond with “Yes,” “No,” or “I have not watched this type of material.”
Focus of attention during the viewing of heterosexual pornography
If participants reported having watched male–female pornography, they were asked, through a multiple-choice response, what they usually focus on during viewing, with options to choose “Man,” “Woman,” or “Interaction between both.” Additionally, they were asked why they focus on that, and they could select multiple responses from options such as “because I am attracted to him,” “because I am attracted to her,” “because I would like to be like him,” “because I would like to be like her,” or “because I would like to reproduce the interaction.”
Perception of discomfort
Due to its subjective character and multifaceted nature (Cohen-Lazry et al., Reference Cohen-Lazry, Degani, Oron-Gilad and Hancock2023), discomfort was assessed through an ad hoc question targeting participants’ personal experience. Specifically, if participants reported being aroused by any type of erotic material, a dichotomous question (Yes/No) was used to assess whether being aroused by that type of material had caused them discomfort.
Procedure
This study is part of a broader research project evaluating various aspects of sexuality. For the general sample collection, from January to March 2017, an announcement was made on social media inviting participation in a research study on sexuality and aspects related to sexual orientation. These announcements were disseminated through social media to various general population groups across Spain, aiming to reach individuals with diverse sociodemographic characteristics.
Once interested individuals clicked on the announcement, they were directed to an initial screen where the research objectives were explained, and they were informed about the anonymous, voluntary, and confidential nature of the study. Upon giving consent to participate, they gained access to the online questionnaire. The participants did not receive any financial compensation for completing the questionnaire. This investigation obtained permission from the Ethics Committee of Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain). Throughout the study, the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed, along with appropriate measures as mandated by the latest legislation for data protection.
Through convenience sampling, a total of 4,564 responses were collected. From these, 1,345 individuals who met the inclusion criteria for the study were selected: identifying as male (n = 1,490), aged over 18 (n = 1,470), identifying as heterosexual, bisexual, or gay (n = 1,448), and residing in Spain (n = 1,345). Due to the participants displaying a wide age range and a lower representation of individuals over 40 years old, men over the age of 40 were excluded (n = 212) as their inclusion could have biased the results. Therefore, the final sample consists of 1,133 men.
Statistical Analysis
The SPSS software (version 29.0) was used to perform various statistical analyses. Before conducting the analyses, to facilitate the interpretation of the results, the responses obtained for the “arousal” variable were recoded into two different dimensions: viewing and arousal. In the viewing variable, men who indicated they had not watched this type of material were coded as 0 (“not watched”), while those who reported being aroused or not aroused by pornography were grouped together and coded as 1 (“watched”). In the arousal variable, only the responses of men who reported watching pornography were considered, and they were divided into two groups: those who experienced arousal and those who did not.
Additionally, the possible responses to sexual attraction were recoded into five categories to facilitate analysis and interpretation. Since no one stated that they did not feel attraction to any sex, the new categories were: “exclusively heterosexual” (“I am attracted exclusively to the opposite sex”), “somewhat heterosexual” (“I am mostly attracted to the opposite sex and occasionally to the same sex” and “I am somewhat more attracted to the opposite sex than to the same sex”), “bisexual” (“I am equally attracted to any gender”), “somewhat gay” (“I am mostly attracted to the same sex and occasionally to the opposite sex” and “I am somewhat more attracted to the same sex than to the opposite sex”), and “exclusively gay” (“I am attracted exclusively to the same sex”). These categories are based on self-reported information, taking into account how each individual self-identified. However, when presenting the results, instead of referring to the self-identifying nature (e.g., “identified somewhat heterosexual men”), we will refer exclusively to the categories to simplify the nomenclature (e.g., “somewhat heterosexual men”).
Initially, descriptive analyses were performed based on sexual attraction. To assess whether there were any variations based on sexual attraction and to determine the magnitude of these differences, chi-square tests and Cramér’s V tests were employed for percentage data. Additionally, ANOVA tests and Cohen’s f were used to analyze age differences. Cohen’s f was calculated using the G*Power software (Faul et al., Reference Faul, Erdfelder, Lang and Buchner2007).
Moreover, contingency tables were used to determine the percentages of men from the five types of sexual attraction who watched, became aroused by, and experienced distress from arousal with the three types of pornography (male–female, female–female, and male–male). Chi-square tests were then conducted to examine differences among the different sexual attraction groups, and Cramér’s V statistic was used to assess effect size. Post hoc analyses were performed to identify exactly which groups differed from each other.
Similarly, contingency tables and chi-square tests were used to explore differences in the focus of attention while watching male–female pornography and the reasons for such focus, based on the men’s sexual attraction. Cramér’s V statistic was employed to determine effect size. Post hoc analyses were also conducted for these variables.
To interpret the effect size, Cohen’s f values close to .10 were considered small, values of .25 and above were considered medium, and values exceeding .40 were considered large (Cohen, Reference Cohen1988). For Cramér’s V, values between .10 and .30 were considered small, values between .30 and .50 were considered moderate, and values above .50 were considered large (Ellis, Reference Ellis2010).
Results
General Consumption of Pornography
The results showed that 99.2% of men had ever watched some type of pornography in their lives. By sexual attraction, 98.9% of exclusively heterosexual men and 99% of somewhat gay men had ever seen some type of pornography, compared to 100% of somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, and exclusively gay men, but differences were not significant (χ2 = 3.25; p = .517).
Consumption Patterns of Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
With regard to pornographic content, as seen in Table 2, exclusively heterosexual men consumed mostly male–female (97.3%) and female–female pornography (96.4%). Somewhat heterosexual men showed high consumption of the three types of pornography, including also male–male contents (> 90%). Bisexual men consumed mostly female–female (94.4%) and male–male pornography (94.4%), although they also presented high consumption of male–female pornography (88.9%). Somewhat gay and exclusively gay men watched more male–female (> 97.6%) and male–male pornography (> 97.1%). Statistically significant differences by sexual attraction were only observed in viewing female–female and male–male pornography, although with a small effect size. In this sense, based on statistically significant differences by post hoc comparison, bisexual men showed a lower consumption of male–female pornography compared to exclusively and somewhat heterosexual men, as well as somewhat gay men. Exclusively and somewhat heterosexual men consumed more female–female pornography than exclusively and somewhat gay men. Lastly, exclusively heterosexual men showed less consumption of male–male pornography than the other groups. Moreover, exclusively gay men also showed higher consumption of male–male pornography than somewhat heterosexual and bisexual men.
Table 2. Differential analysis in watching different types of pornography by sexual attraction
Note: χ 2 = Chi-square test; df = Degrees of freedom; Post hoc = Analyses conducted to determine which specific groups differ from each other; EH = Exclusively heterosexual; SH = Somewhat heterosexual; B = Bisexual; SG = Somewhat gay; EG = Exclusively gay.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Who Are Men Looking at During the Viewing of Male–Female Porn?
Regarding men’s focus of attention when watching male–female pornography (see Table 3), a different attentional focus was observed depending on sexual attraction. Exclusively heterosexual men (78.7%) reported focusing more on women; somewhat heterosexual (81.3%) and bisexual men (75%) focused on the interaction; and somewhat gay (74.2%) and exclusively gay men (92.4%) focused on men. Statistically significant differences were observed in the three attentional focuses according to sexual attraction. The effect size for the interaction was small, while the effect sizes for attention to men and women were large. Namely, exclusively gay men focused mainly on men, followed by somewhat gay and bisexual men. Somewhat heterosexual men ranked next, while exclusively heterosexual men reported paying the least attention to men. In terms of attention to women, exclusively heterosexual men focused on them the most, followed by somewhat heterosexual and bisexual men, with no differences between the latter two groups. Somewhat gay men ranked third in this regard, while exclusively gay men did not pay any attention to the woman. Lastly, exclusively gay men showed the least attention to the interaction compared to the other groups. Moreover, somewhat heterosexual men paid more attention to the interaction than exclusively heterosexual and somewhat gay men.
Table 3. Differential analysis of men who look at man, woman, or sexual interaction when watching male–female pornography by sexual attraction
Note: χ 2 = Chi-square test; df = Degrees of freedom; Post hoc = Analyses conducted to determine which specific groups differ from each other; EH = Exclusively heterosexual; SH = Somewhat heterosexual; B = Bisexual; SG = Somewhat gay; EG = Exclusively gay.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Why Do They Pay Attention to It?
When considering the reasons for their attentional focus (see Table 4), gay men (97.9%), mostly gay men (91.7%), and bisexual men (81.8%) predominantly cited attraction to men as their reason. Conversely, exclusively heterosexual men (50%) and somewhat heterosexual men (37%) equally cited “I felt attraction to him” and “I would like to be like him” as their reasons. Both reasons showed statistically significant differences based on sexual attraction, with a small effect size for “I would like to be like him” and a large effect size for “I felt attraction to him.”
Table 4. Differential analysis of the reasons why men look at certain aspects when watching male–female pornography by sexual attraction
Note: χ 2 = Chi-square test; df = Degrees of freedom; Post hoc = Analyses conducted to determine which specific groups differ from each other; EH = Exclusively heterosexual; SH = Somewhat heterosexual; B = Bisexual; SG = Somewhat gay; EG = Exclusively gay. The use of dashes indicates that exclusively gay men lack data on these variables because they did not focus on women.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
When pairwise comparisons were made among different sexual attractions, among those who paid attention to men, based on statistically significant differences, exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men cited the reason “I felt attraction to him” less often than somewhat gay and exclusively gay men. Additionally, somewhat heterosexual men used this explanation less frequently than bisexual men, and bisexual men, in turn, used it less often than exclusively gay men. Conversely, exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men cited the reason “I would like to be like him” more often than exclusively gay men. Moreover, somewhat heterosexual men used this reason more frequently than somewhat gay men.
When focusing on women, exclusively heterosexual, somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, and somewhat gay men most frequently cited “I felt attraction to her” as their reason. Additionally, bisexual, somewhat heterosexual, and somewhat gay men were the ones who most often stated “I would like to be like her.” Both reasons displayed statistically significant differences based on sexual attraction, although with a small effect size. When making pairwise comparisons, exclusively heterosexual men, compared to somewhat heterosexual and somewhat gay men, were more likely to explain their attention to women by citing their attraction to them. Conversely, exclusively heterosexual men were less likely to use the reason “I would like to be like her” compared to somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, and somewhat gay men.
Finally, among those who focused their attention on the interaction, except for exclusively gay men, the remaining groups most frequently attributed their attentional focus to their desire to reproduce the interaction. Conversely, exclusively gay men explained their focus by saying they felt attraction to the man. All reasons showed statistically significant differences by sexual attraction. The differences in interaction showed a small effect size, attraction to women showed a moderate effect size, and attraction to men showed a large effect size. When analyzing the differences between pairs of groups, exclusively gay, somewhat gay, and bisexual men most often described their attention to the interaction by citing their attraction to men, with no statistically significant differences among these groups. Following them were somewhat heterosexual men, and in the last position were exclusively heterosexual men. Conversely, exclusively heterosexual men most frequently explained their attentional focus by their attraction to women, followed by somewhat heterosexual men. Somewhat gay men ranked third, and exclusively gay men ranked last in this regard. Additionally, bisexual men cited this explanation more often than somewhat gay and exclusively gay men. Lastly, compared to somewhat gay men, exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men more often cited the reason “I would like to reproduce the interaction” to explain their attentional focus. Moreover, somewhat heterosexual men cited this reason more frequently than exclusively gay men.
Arousal Responses to Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
The patterns in reported arousal responses were more varied than those in viewing behavior (see Table 5). Exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men reported being most aroused by male–female (>95.6%) and female–female pornography (>91.8%). Conversely, exclusively gay and somewhat gay men showed higher arousal with male–male pornography (100%) and, to a slightly lesser extent, with male–female pornography (>86.9%). Bisexual men stated being most aroused by male–female pornography (100%), but they also indicated high levels of arousal with male–male pornography (82.4%) and female–female pornography (76.5%). These elevated levels of reported arousal with the three types of pornography were also observed in other nonexclusive sexual attractions. Specifically, 71.1% of somewhat heterosexual men showed arousal with male–male pornography, while 48.8% of somewhat gay men showed arousal with female–female pornography. The differences in arousal by sexual attraction were statistically significant across all three types of pornography, with a low effect size for male–female pornography and a high effect size for female–female and male–male pornography.
Table 5. Differential analysis of arousal and discomfort felt for being excited with different types of pornography by sexual attraction
Note: χ 2 = Chi-square test; df = Degrees of freedom; Post hoc = Analyses conducted to determine which specific groups differ from each other; EH = Exclusively heterosexual; SH = Somewhat heterosexual; B = Bisexual; SG = Somewhat gay; EG = Exclusively gay. This table does not show the total “n” for each group because the sample size for the three arousal questions depends on the number of individuals who reported viewing each type of pornography (see Table 2). Similarly, the sample size for the three discomfort questions depends on the number of individuals who reported feeling aroused by each type of pornography.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Regarding the differences among various sexual attractions, exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men showed significantly higher arousal with male–female pornography than exclusively gay men. Additionally, somewhat heterosexual men also indicated higher arousal than somewhat gay men. Alternatively, exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men were most aroused by female–female pornography, followed by bisexual men. Somewhat gay men ranked third, while exclusively gay men were last. Finally, exclusively gay and somewhat gay men stated being most aroused by male–male pornography. Bisexual and somewhat heterosexual men were next, with no significant differences between them. Exclusively heterosexual men showed the lowest level of arousal for this type of pornography.
Discomfort Associated with Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
As observed in Table 5, except for exclusively gay men, all groups experienced higher discomfort when aroused by male–male pornography (>14.3%). Exclusively gay men experienced higher discomfort with female–female pornography (11.1%). Statistically significant differences were observed across the three types of pornography, although the effect size was low. Specifically, based on statistically significant differences, bisexual and exclusively gay men experienced higher discomfort with male–female pornography than exclusively heterosexual and somewhat heterosexual men. Similarly, exclusively gay and bisexual men experienced higher discomfort with female–female pornography compared to exclusively heterosexual men. Lastly, with male–male pornography, exclusively gay men reported lower levels of discomfort compared to somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, and somewhat gay men.
Discussion
This study aimed to explore, based on sexual attraction, the differences in reported viewing and arousal experiences with male–female, female–female, and male–male pornography in men, as well as the associated discomfort. Additionally, it examined whether there were differences based on sexual attraction in the reported attentional focus when watching male–female pornography, as well as the reasons for that.
General Consumption of Pornography
The percentage of men who have consumed pornography at some point in their lives is comparable to other studies with similar methodologies (Kasper et al., Reference Kasper, Short and Milam2015; Solano et al., Reference Solano, Eaton and O’Leary2018). Likewise, as observed by Træen and Daneback (Reference Træen and Daneback2013), no differences were found based on sexual attraction. Therefore, we can affirm that our first hypothesis is fulfilled.
Consumption Patterns of Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
As stated in Hypothesis 2, based on sexual attraction, men showed different consumption patterns for male–male and female–female pornography. However, no statistically significant differences were found in the consumption of male–female pornography. As expected (Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017), exclusively heterosexual men consumed more male–female and female–female pornography, and exclusively gay men consumed more male–female and male–male pornography. Men with nonexclusive sexual attraction showed high consumption of all three types of pornography evaluated. However, somewhat gay men consumed much more male–female and male–male pornography than female–female pornography. Generally, the percentages in our study were slightly higher than those obtained by Downing et al. (Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017). This could be attributed to our study asked about lifetime consumption, whereas Downing et al. (Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017) assessed consumption over the past 6 months.
The most watched type of pornography has been male–female (Ballester-Arnal et al., Reference Ballester-Arnal, García-Barba, Castro-Calvo, Giménez-García and Gil-Llario2023; Downing et al., Reference Downing, Schrimshaw, Scheinmann, Antebi-Gruszka and Hirshfield2017), with high prevalence among men of all sexual attraction groups. This finding makes sense, as heterosexual pornography continues to dominate global markets (Wosick, Reference Wosick, DeLamater and Plante2015), so videos with male–female content are more frequent. This high consumption could also be explained by the existing heteronormativity in society (Habarth, Reference Habarth2008), which expects and assumes that everyone is heterosexual and should act as such. This would lead men of different sexual orientations and attractions to try to meet those expectations and consume male–female pornography at some point. Another possible cause is that male–female pornography features both men and women, meaning that individuals who are objects of desire for all studied sexual attractions appear in these materials.
On the other hand, roughly three-quarters of exclusively heterosexual and exclusively gay men indicated having consumed non-preferred sex pornography, meaning male–male pornography for exclusively heterosexual men and female–female pornography for exclusively gay men. This phenomenon could be due to self-exploration (Attwood et al., Reference Attwood, Smith and Barker2018), which helps individuals to understand their own sexual preferences and discard what does not attract them. Additionally, due to heteronormativity, which expects men to be attracted to women (Dillon et al., Reference Dillon, Worthington, Moradi, Schwartz, Luyckx and Vignoles2011), exclusively gay men may consume female–female pornography to test their sexual desires or even to try to conform to societal expectations. However, these possible explanations are more likely and make more sense in younger men, during the formation of their sexual orientation (Dillon et al., Reference Dillon, Worthington, Moradi, Schwartz, Luyckx and Vignoles2011).
Who Are Men Looking at During the Viewing of Male–Female Porn?
Regarding the attentional focus during the viewing of male–female pornography (Research Question 1), the results aligned with their object of desire: exclusively heterosexual men stated focusing more on women, while exclusively gay men focused more on men. Men with nonexclusive sexual attraction, in general, showed greater attention to the interaction.
Why do They Pay Attention to It?
Among men who focused on men, exclusively gay, somewhat gay, and bisexual men explained this focus more due to their attraction to him. Conversely, exclusively and somewhat heterosexual men were more likely than exclusively and somewhat gay men to explain this focus by expressing a desire to emulate the men they were watching.
Regarding men who paid attention to women, somewhat gay men were the least likely to report feeling attraction to women as their reason. Exclusively gay men did not report focusing their attention on women at all. However, somewhat heterosexual, bisexual, and somewhat gay men most often attributed their attention to their desire to emulate or identify with the women they were observing.
Lastly, among men who focused on the interaction between individuals, all groups except exclusively gay men more often explained their attention by expressing a desire to replicate or participate in the observed interaction. Exclusively gay men tended to use their attraction to men slightly more as a reason for their focus.
As observed in Morandini et al. (Reference Morandini, Veldre, Holcombe, Hsu, Lykins, Bailey and Dar-Nimrod2019), men displayed differences in their attentional focus when watching male–female pornography based on sexual attraction. The attentional focus and the reasons for it generally aligned with their sexual desires.
Arousal Responses to Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
Regarding Hypothesis 3, as expected, based on sexual attraction, men reported different levels of arousal in response to male–female, female–female, and male–male pornography. Specifically, exclusively, and somewhat heterosexual men stated being primarily aroused by male–female and female–female pornography. This arousal by female–female erotic material is not surprising, as heterosexual men often perceive these behaviors between women as a sexual fantasy (Parkhill, Reference Parkhill and Monroe2010).
On the other hand, as expected, exclusively and somewhat gay men indicated being primarily aroused by male–male pornography, followed by male–female pornography. The high arousal levels with male–female content can be attributed to the erotic and intriguing nature that heterosexual men represent for gay men. In fact, there is a type of male–male pornography that simulates one of the male actors as a heterosexual man engaging in sexual relations with another man (Kiss & Morrison, Reference Kiss and Morrison2021; Kiss et al., Reference Kiss, Morrison and Parker2019). These “heterosexual” men often embody a pronounced masculine role, which is found to be particularly erotic (Burke, Reference Burke2016; Kiss et al., Reference Kiss, Morrison and Parker2019). In addition, seducing a heterosexual man is also considered erotic by some gay men (Meijer, Reference Meijer1993).
In previous studies, bisexual individuals were similarly aroused by both male and female stimuli (Lippa, Reference Lippa2013; Rosenthal et al., Reference Rosenthal, Sylva, Safron and Bailey2012). In the present study, all bisexual men evaluated reported being aroused by male–female pornography, while slightly over three-quarters showed arousal to male–male and female–female pornography. This suggests that bisexual men are more aroused by material featuring men and women together than by female–female or male–male material.
However, other studies have found different results. In line with Rieger et al. (Reference Rieger, Chivers and Bailey2005) bisexual men preferred male stimuli to female stimuli. In our study, although bisexual men were most aroused by male–female material, they were slightly more aroused by male–male porn than by female–female pornography. Additionally, considering nonexclusive sexual attraction in general, men with nonexclusive sexual attraction who leaned more toward the “exclusively heterosexual” end (i.e., somewhat heterosexual) displayed greater attraction to female–female stimuli, whereas those leaning toward the opposite end (i.e., somewhat gay) exhibited greater arousal with male–male stimuli. Nearly three-quarters of somewhat heterosexual men were aroused by male–male pornography, compared to about half of somewhat gay men who were aroused by female–female pornography. Overall, men with nonexclusive sexual attraction seem to be more aroused by male–male stimuli than by female–female stimuli.
In general, it is observed that men consume and are aroused by pornography that depicts objects of desire different from their typical sexual attraction. This discrepancy between sexual attraction and current behavior has been noted in other studies (Copen et al., Reference Copen, Chandra and Febo-Vazquez2016; Giménez-García et al., Reference Giménez-García, Nebot-Garcia, Ruiz-Palomino, García-Barba and Ballester-Arnal2022; Nebot-Garcia et al., Reference Nebot-Garcia, Giménez-García, García-Barba, Gil-Llario and Ballester-Arnal2022; Vrangalova & Savin-Williams, Reference Vrangalova and Savin-Williams2010), which indicates that individuals, despite self-identified sexual orientation, may exhibit desires, behaviors, or interests toward non-preferred sexual experiences.
Discomfort Associated with Male–Female, Female–Female, and Male–Male Content
Regarding discomfort (Research Question 2), male–male pornography tends to evoke the most discomfort, except among exclusively gay men, who felt more discomfort with female–female pornography. However, some exclusively gay men also experienced discomfort with male–male pornography. The discomfort that exclusively gay men and men with nonexclusive heterosexual attractions experience with male–male pornography, a type of material aligning with their sexual attraction, may stem from internalized stigma (Herek et al., Reference Herek, Gillis and Cogan2015), which leads them to reject their attraction toward men. Moreover, this discomfort may also stem from the process of self-discovery and becoming aware of their own sexual orientation (Dillon et al., Reference Dillon, Worthington, Moradi, Schwartz, Luyckx and Vignoles2011). In essence, arousal experienced from this type of material could have served as a means for them to recognize their genuine sexual desires. For instance, it is plausible that individuals who initially identified as heterosexual came to realize their nonexclusive heterosexual orientation due to arousal from male–male pornography. This disparity between expectations and reality (Priolo et al., Reference Priolo, Milhabet, Codou, Fointiat, Lebarbenchon and Gabarrot2016) could contribute to their discomfort (Coulter et al., Reference Coulter, Kessel Schneider, Beadnell and O’Donnell2017).
Additionally, male–male pornography often depicts men engaging in anal sex, where one assumes the passive role (receptive) and the other the active role (insertive). Such practices may generate discomfort among some men who reject feminine behaviors in men, as the receptive sexual role is often perceived as feminine (Ravenhill & de Visser, Reference Ravenhill and de Visser2017). Another possible reason for discomfort experienced when aroused by pornography, even if it aligns with one’s sexual orientation, could be that consuming pornography conflicts with one’s moral values (Fisher et al., Reference Fisher, Montgomery-Graham and Kohut2019; Grubbs & Perry, Reference Grubbs and Perry2019) or religious beliefs (Cranney & Štulhofer, Reference Cranney and Štulhofer2017; MacInnis & Hodson, Reference MacInnis and Hodson2016).
Limitations and Future Directions
While this study provides valuable information about pornography consumption in men, it is not without limitations. One limitation is related to the use of convenience sampling to recruit participants, which means that the results cannot be generalized. Secondl, reliance on self-reports and social desirability could bias the results, particularly in sensitive aspects of sexuality. In our study, participants were asked about pornography that included any of the interactions evaluated (female–male, male–male, or female–female), regardless of other interactions in the same video. Viewing could be voluntary or unintentional. We aimed to evaluate all types of viewing. In addition, some doubts may arise as to whether a threesome involving one man and two women could also be considered “heterosexual” or “lesbian” pornography instead of “bisexual pornography.” However, participants were asked about this type of behavior in a different section of the project, which is not included in this manuscript. Therefore, we assumed that they were familiar with such content and could distinguish between these sexual behaviors (e.g., threesomes or orgies involving both men and women, which we classified as “bisexual”) and other more specific categories evaluated in the present study: male–female erotic content (heterosexual pornography), female–female content (lesbian pornography), and male–male content (gay pornography). Nonetheless, it would have been advisable to specify these details in the questionnaire to avoid misunderstandings. This is another limitation of online surveys, as it prevents participants from asking questions or clarifying terms they may not understand. Additionally, we assessed discomfort, attentional focus, and arousal using a subjective measure, which may introduce further bias. Employing a more extensive validated questionnaire, eye-tracking technology, or measures of genital congestion could help mitigate some of these biases. Moreover, despite having a relatively large sample size, it would be advisable to increase the sample size of certain groups, such as bisexual men, to obtain more conclusive results. Finally, we used the Kinsey scale to evaluate sexual attraction (Kinsey et al., Reference Kinsey, Pomeroy and Martin1948). Despite its widespread use, this measure is based on a binary gender paradigm and may not accurately represent all individuals in the population.
For future studies, it would be interesting to include information on sexual orientation and the gradation of sexual attraction to see if any discrepancies exist and whether this explains discomfort when viewing and getting aroused by non-preferred sex pornography. Additionally, it would be valuable to gather more information on the experience of sexual orientation, such as whether individuals have disclosed their sexual orientation or tried to hide it. It would also be useful to consider the type of pornography viewed (e.g., soft-core, hard-core, BDSM, etc.) rather than just the sex of the individuals depicted.
Conclusions
Overall, the results underscore the diversity in pornography consumption and indicate that some men experience discomfort when aroused by pornography, regardless of their self-reported sexual attraction. These differences are evident even among men with varying degrees of nonexclusive sexual attraction. These results can be used by therapists to address discomfort related to sexual exploration, particularly in individuals with internalized and unaccepted desires. Additionally, these results could guide public health campaigns focused on reducing discomfort associated with consuming certain types of pornography, such as content that does not align with one’s sexual preferences. Finally, this study emphasizes the importance of promoting a flexible understanding of male sexuality and masculinity, which can facilitate the exploration and acceptance of sexual orientation without judgment. All of these aspects may be integrated into sexual health programs to make them more diverse and inclusive.
Data availability statement
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Author contribution
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Juan E. Nebot-Garcia, Cristina Giménez-García, Verónica Cervigón-Carrasco, and Rafael Ballester-Arnal. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Juan E. Nebot-Garcia, Cristina Giménez-García, and Rafael Ballester-Arnal, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding statement
This research was supported by grant PREDOC/2017/45 of the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (Spain).
Competing interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
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