Differences within: Hypersexuality, Sensation Seeking and Pornography Viewing Behaviors in a Sample of Heterosexual, Gay, Bisexual, and Uncertain Men

Excerpts:

  • We found that hypersexual behaviors, sensation seeking, pornography viewing, and pornography avoidance self- efficacy were inter-correlated. … men who score high in hypersexual and sensation seeking behaviors might find  it more difficult to control pornography viewing, in which case it may become problematic for them.
  • Individuals identified with different sexual orientations showed significant differences. … Bisexual and uncertain men reported higher hypersexuality than heterosexual men. … Sensation seeking appeared not to differ significantly across sexual orientation groups. Only gay men reported a slightly lower score on sensation seeking compared to heterosexual men with a small effect size.
  • Heterosexual men … reported higher pornography avoidance efficacy than gay, bisexual, and uncertain men.

Madina Kamolova, Yen-Ling Chen, Repairer Etuk, Shane J. Sacco & Shane W. Kraus (2022): Differences within: Hypersexuality, Sensation Seeking and Pornography Viewing Behaviors in a Sample of Heterosexual, Gay, Bisexual, and Uncertain Men, Sexual Health & Compulsivity, DOI: 10.1080/26929953.2022.2162652

Abstract

The current study explored men’s (N = 1,298) reports of sexual behaviors, hypersexuality, pornography use, pornography avoidance self-efficacy, and sensation seeking with respect to men’s sexual orientation (heterosexual = 68.5%, gay = 11.2%, bisexual = 16.0%, and uncertain = 4.3%). Results revealed that heterosexual men reported less frequent pornography viewing and higher pornography avoidance self-efficacy than gay, bisexual, and uncertain men. Heterosexual men reported lower hypersexuality than bisexual and uncertain men. Differences in sensation seeking behaviors by sexual orientation did not reach significance. Future research should examine factors contributing to hypersexual behaviors, sensation seeking, and pornography using behaviors and avoidance self-efficacy among men identifying with different sexual orientations.