The Disinhibition Threshold Hypothesis, Pornography Exposure, and Condomless Sex

Pornography exposure and condomless sex studies to date have assumed a linear relationship and found only small effect sizes. The present study introduces the Disinhibition Threshold Hypothesis (DTH) in the context of emerging U.S. adults' pornography exposure and engagement in condomless sex. The DTH asserts a curvilinear relationship between exposure to nonnormative, socially unsanctioned, or personally risky behaviors in media and audience engagement in these behaviors, such that the association between media exposure and behavioral enactment is weak to nonexistent at low levels of exposure and strengthens with increasing exposure. Results were generally consistent with the DTH. The bivariate correlation between pornography exposure and condomless sex was close to zero and not significant while quadratic analysis indicated that the association varied by exposure frequency. Pornography use did not predict condomless sex at lower levels of exposure (e.g. yearly, once a month). Pornography use did predict condomless sex, however, once a higher exposure threshold was reached (e.g. weekly, daily). Subsequent studies should continue to evaluate the DTH in the context of pornography exposure and condomless sex as well as other, conceptually similar contexts (i.e. contexts where media depictions encourage nonnormative, socially unsanctioned, or personally risky behaviors).