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Arch Sex Behav (2013) 42:637647 DOI 10.1007/s10508-012-0033-5
ORIGINAL PAPER
Characteristics of Pornography Film Actors: Self-Report versus Perceptions of College Students
James D. Grifth Michelle Hayworth
Lea T. Adams Sharon Mitchell Christian Hart
Received: 29 October 2010 / Revised: 29October 2011 / Accepted: 14 August 2012 / Published online: 22 November 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract The assumed characteristics of individuals in the adult entertainment industry have been used to advocate positionsforand against pornography.Althoughpriorstudies have investigated perceptions of porn actors, no data on the actual characteristics of this group exist. The present study compared the self-reports of 105 male and 177 female porn actors to the perceptions of 399 college students on childhood sexual abuse (CSA), self-esteem, work and non-work sexual behaviors, and safe sex issues. College students were asked to identify the characteristics associated with either a male or female porn star. College students provided underestimates for both female and male porn actors on self-esteem, age of rst intercourse, lifetime number of partners outside of work, ideal experience in a romantic partner, concerns regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), enjoyment of sex, and condom use during a rst time sexual encounter, but overestimated earnings. Additional differences among male porn stars included an underestimate of the number of partners at work. For female porn stars, college students underestimated their enjoyment of work, the probability of catching an STD, and having unprotected sex. Although there were no signi-cant differences on perceived rates of childhood abuse of porn actors, the incidence of CSA among the porn actor
participants were within the ranges of the general population. The majority of college student stereotypes were not supported regardingthe perceptions of porn actors. These ndings were discussed within the context of attributing unfounded characteristics of individuals to an entire industry.
Keywords Pornography Porn stars Porn actors
Sexual behavior Stereotypes
Introduction
Pornography has been and continues to be an intensely debated social issue. Stereotypes of actors in pornography have been used to support or condemn it (Evans-DeCicco & Cowan, 2001). Often times, the assumed characteristics of individuals in the adult entertainment industry are used as a foundation for judging many facets of pornography. Stereo-typesareusedtojustifypoliticalviewsandpositionsalthough the actual characteristics of porn actors are truly stereotypes because large scale data on these individuals...