Social Desirability Bias in Pornography-Related Self-Reports: The Role of Religion.

Social Desirability Bias in Pornography-Related Self-Reports: The Role of Religion. Rasmussen, K. R., Grubbs, J. B., Pargament, K. I., & Exline, J. J. Journal of sex research, 55(3):381–394, United States, 2018.
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In a large online survey of undergraduates, we examined the degree to which social desirability concerns might bias pornography-related self-reports and whether these biases are stronger among highly religious participants than among less-religious ones. Recent state-level analyses have put forward a controversial suggestion that religious individuals tend to search for pornography more than their less-religious peers, despite self-reports to the contrary. Such results could be explained by a social-desirability bias against reporting the consumption of pornography, one that applies specifically to religious individuals. Though our findings are limited to undergraduates in the U.S. Midwest, we found some evidence that the desire to positively self-present (as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale) may bias reports of pornography consumption and perceptions of pornography's effects (e.g., perceptions of addictiveness). However, contrary to popular sentiment-and our own hypotheses-we found no evidence for and much evidence against the suggestion that religious individuals have a more pronounced social desirability bias against the reporting of pornography consumption than the irreligious. Interaction terms assessing that possibility were either nonsignificant or significant in the reverse direction.

@article{rasmussenSocialDesirabilityBias2018,
  title = {Social {{Desirability Bias}} in {{Pornography-Related Self-Reports}}: {{The Role}} of {{Religion}}.},
  author = {Rasmussen, Kyler R. and Grubbs, Joshua B. and Pargament, Kenneth I. and Exline, Julie J.},
  year = {2018},
  journal = {Journal of sex research},
  volume = {55},
  number = {3},
  pages = {381--394},
  address = {{United States}},
  issn = {1559-8519 0022-4499},
  doi = {10.1080/00224499.2017.1399196},
  abstract = {In a large online survey of undergraduates, we examined the degree to which social desirability concerns might bias pornography-related self-reports and whether these  biases are stronger among highly religious participants than among less-religious  ones. Recent state-level analyses have put forward a controversial suggestion that  religious individuals tend to search for pornography more than their less-religious  peers, despite self-reports to the contrary. Such results could be explained by a  social-desirability bias against reporting the consumption of pornography, one that  applies specifically to religious individuals. Though our findings are limited to  undergraduates in the U.S. Midwest, we found some evidence that the desire to  positively self-present (as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability  scale) may bias reports of pornography consumption and perceptions of pornography's  effects (e.g., perceptions of addictiveness). However, contrary to popular  sentiment-and our own hypotheses-we found no evidence for and much evidence against  the suggestion that religious individuals have a more pronounced social desirability  bias against the reporting of pornography consumption than the irreligious.  Interaction terms assessing that possibility were either nonsignificant or  significant in the reverse direction.},
  langid = {english},
  pmid = {29220590},
  keywords = {*Bias,*Erotica,*Religion,*Social Desirability,Behavior; Addictive,Female,Humans,Internet pornography,Internet surveys,Male,Midwestern United States,pornography,Pornography,Pornography -- Social aspects,Pornography addiction,religion,Religion,Self Report,self-reports,social desirability,Social Desirability,Social desirability in adolescence},
  file = {/Volumes/GoogleDrive/My Drive/Manuscripts/Zotero/storage/8XRB2T44/00224499.2017.pdf;/Volumes/GoogleDrive/My Drive/Manuscripts/Zotero/storage/KIMF78L9/00224499.2017.html}
}

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