Personality, Individual Differences, and Preferences for the Sexual Media

The extent to which personality and individual differences predict preferences for and choices of various forms of sexual media was examined. Personality (e.g., intelligence, aggression) and individual difference factors (e.g., prior sexual experience) were assessed in 160 undergraduate men. These men also indicated their preferences for and choices of various forms of sexual media (e.g., “erotic,” female insatiability, violent). As expected, individual differences were predictive, with, for example, men lower in intelligence and higher in aggressive/antisocial tendencies having a higher preference for violent sexual stimuli than men higher in intelligence and lower in aggressive/antisocial tendencies had. In addition, as much as 50% of the variation in the preference for violent sexual materials was accounted for by an additive combination of individual differences and self-report arousal to these materials. Finally, the results indicated that, when given a choice to view different media materials, the men chose a broad range of media materials, although the “female insatiability” films were more popular than the other sexual films (e.g., “erotic” or violent). Results are discussed in relation to recent research and psychological theories that view adults as active in choosing their own social environments.