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Loyola University Chicago
Loyola eCommons
Dissertations
2011
An Examination of Internet Pornography Usage
Among Male Students at Evangelical Christian
Colleges
Paul Olaf Chelsen
Loyola University Chicago
Recommended Citation
Chelsen, Paul Olaf, "An Examination of Internet Pornography Usage Among Male Students at Evangelical Christian Colleges" (2011). Dissertations. Paper 150.
http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/150
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2011 Paul Olaf Chelsen
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
AN EXAMINATION OF INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY USAGE
AMONG MALE STUDENTS AT EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGES
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION
BY
PAUL O. CHELSEN
CHICAGO, IL
DECEMBER 2011
Copyright by Paul O. Chelsen, 2011
All rights reserved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am supremely grateful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for providing the strength and wisdom to complete graduate school and my dissertation. I am thankful for my wife Laura, who has been a constant source of encouragement and support during these long years of graduate study. I am also grateful for the support of my three daughters, Caitlyn, Annalise, and Sadie, who cannot remember a time I was not in graduate school.
Dr. Terry Williams, my dissertation chair, has been a wonderful professor and guide to me during my time at Loyola. I also deeply appreciate Dr. Jennifer Haworth and Dr. Terri Pigott for their encouragement while serving on my dissertation committee. Thank you to all of my extended family, who has been both curious about my dissertation topic and supportive of my graduate study. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my grandmother-in-law, Mrs. Ann Farnsworth, for her financial support of my graduate studies, and for her engaging spirit.
All my colleagues and friends at Wheaton College have been a tremendous encouragement to me over this last decade of study and beyond. Specifically, Dr. Sam Shellhamer, Dr. Edee Schulze, Dr. Lynn Cooper and Dr. Em Griffin have truly been mentors to me ever since my undergraduate days at Wheaton College. I am also deeply grateful for the financial support of Wheaton College through the Senior Administrative Cabinet to enable me to complete my PhD.
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This dissertation is dedicated to all the Wheaton College students who courageously shared their Internet pornography struggles with me over the years.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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LIST OF TABLES
ABSTRACT
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background
Statement of the Problem
Theoretical Framework
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
Significance of the Study
Conclusion
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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
College Student Attitudes toward Pornography
Effects of Internet Pornography on College Students
The Debate between Sexual Compulsion and Sexual Addiction
Sexual Addiction and College Students
Sexual Compulsion and College Students
Conclusion
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CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
Overview of Chapter
Rationale for the Methodology
Research Design
Instrument Development, Validity, and Reliability
Study Population
Data Collection Measures
Criteria for Institutional Sample
Criteria for Student Sample
Use of Institutional Liaison
Gaining Institutional Access
Distribution and Receipt of Surveys
Data Analysis
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
Overview of Chapter
Survey Administration
Background Questions
Research Questions
Data Preparation
Validation
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Data Results
Results of Descriptive Statistics
Description of Linear Correlations
Results of Linear Correlations
Evangelical Status
Undergraduate Year
Internet Usage
Age of First Exposure
Number of Sexual Partners
Relationship with Addictive Patterns
Relationship with Guilt
Relationship with Online Social Behavior
Linear Correlations Results Summary
Independent t-test Results
Multiple Regression Results for Five Predictors
Multiple Regression Results for Seven Predictors
Multiple Regression Results for Seven Predictors
Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Key Findings and Implications
Extent of Internet Pornography Access
Relationship between Extent of Internet Pornography Access
and Select Predictors
Is Viewing Internet Pornography Justified?
Recommendations
Publish the Evangelical Biblical Sexual Ethic
Teach the Evangelical Biblical Sexual Ethic
Provide Peer-to-Peer Resources
Encourage Online Boundaries
Harness Consequences
Develop Assessment Tools
Research Limitations
Suggestions for Future Research
Conclusion
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APPENDIX A: APPROVAL TO USE INSTRUMENT
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APPENDIX B: SAMPLE PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT E-MAIL
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APPENDIX C: SAMPLE COOPERATING INSTITUTION LETTER
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APPENDIX D: INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH INVITATION
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APPENDIX E: PARTICIPANT INFORMED CONSENT FORM
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APPENDIX F: INSTRUMENT
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APPENDIX G: E-MAIL REMINDER #1
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APPENDIX H: E-MAIL REMINDER #2
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REFERENCE LIST
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VITA
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LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
1. Response rate information
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2. Class comparison between response rate and survey population
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3. Frequency of Internet pornography viewing
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4. Time, on average, viewing Internet pornography per week
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5. Linear correlations regarding extent of Internet pornography access
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6. Multiple regression analyses with five predictors of Internet pornography use
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7. Multiple regression analyses with seven predictors of Internet pornography use 111 8. Multiple regression analyses with seven predictors of Internet pornography use 114
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ABSTRACT
Internet pornography access among male students at Evangelical Christian colleges presents two dilemmas. First, Internet pornography access is institutionally prohibited based on a Biblical view of sexuality. The second dilemma is that individual students who choose to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ in the context of Evangelical Christian faith tradition can experience internal distress in response to Internet pornography access. No empirical study to date has examined Internet pornograph y access only among male undergraduates only at Evangelical Christian colleges. The first guiding research question is, “To what extent do male undergraduates at select Evangelical Christian colleges in the Midwest access Internet pornography?” The second guiding research question is, “Is there a correlation between the extent of access to Internet pornography among male undergraduates at select Evangelical Christian colleges in the Midwest and indicators of addiction patterns, guilt regarding online use and online sexual behavior that is social in nature?” This correlational study collected data through an online survey with 46 questions and was sent to 2,245 male undergraduate students at three different Evangelical Christian colleges in the Midwest. The purpose of the study was to provide information to help staff members at Evangelical Christian colleges design strategies to support male students in distress regarding Internet pornography access. Support for this study was found in the empirical literature regarding college ix
student attitudes regarding Internet pornography including its effects on students. Further support came from both the general literature on sexual addiction and compulsion and specific empirical literature about college student sexual addiction and sexual compulsion. The descriptive statistical results helped to answer the first research question and demonstrated that 79.3 percent of male undergraduate students at Evangelical colleges reported accessing Internet pornography at some point in the previous year, with 61.1 percent reported accessing Internet pornography at least some amount of time each week. Linear relationships and multiple regression analyses generated data to answer the second research question. A statistically significant relationship exists between the extent of Internet pornography usage among male undergraduates at three Evangelical colleges and indicators of addictive patterns related to Internet pornography, guilt regarding online pornography use, and online sexual behavior that is social in nature. Furthermore, the multiple regression results overall suggest that students who do not self-identify as Evangelical, spend higher amounts of time online, demonstrate higher indicators of Internet pornography addiction and demonstrate online social behavior that is sexual in nature are more likely to access Internet pornography a higher number of hours each week. The addictive scale emerged as the strongest predictor for the amount of time, on average, spent viewing Internet pornography each week.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Willard (2008) defines pornography as “writings, drawings, images and pictures for use in arousing sexual desire, and frequently in stimulating the body to achieve sexual discharge or release” (p. 2). This study examined Internet pornography usage among male undergraduates at Evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. Background information related to Internet pornography will be introduced before the problem being investigated in this study is stated. After the problem is stated, the theoretical framework for the study will be identified. Next the purpose of the study will be introduced along with the research questions that were pursued. The final section will address the significance of this study.
Background
Eberstadt (2009), a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and consulting editor to Policy Review, penned a thought-provoking article about pornography. The author used the analogy of the “social consensus” about tobacco, prior to the surgeon general‟s 1964 report regarding the health effects of smoking, as a parallel to the current “widespread tolerance” of pornography in the United States (p. 4). The article emphasized the tobacco industry‟s historical argument to justify its existence, namely that empirical research could not prove smoking was harmful therefore smoking should be left up to individual choice. Furthermore, Eberstadt claims that smoking did not become 1
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a negative stigma in the United States until there was a clear empirical link between smoking, second hand smoke and cancer. The author wondered if pornography would follow a similar pattern and pointed to research correlating pornography use with divorce rates and job loss rates due to pornography use at work as potential indicators of the harm pornography, particularly Internet pornography, could cause. Eberstadt‟s article reflects that harm must be empirically demonstrated in America before there is human will to act against it.
Willard (2008), a Christian theologian, writer, and a philosophy professor at the University of California, Berkley presents a different, but equally thought provoking view of pornography as contrasted with Eberstadt (2009). Willard identifies pornography as a widespread problem and claims the use of pornography is closely related to the role of human desire. Willard goes on to explain that desire follows the human will and that the human will follows whatever it orients itself around. Willard argues that pornography represents a vision of human bodies as objects to be used to stimulate sexual desire with the intention of sexual gratification. Harm, from Willard‟s perspective, occurs when the human will is not oriented around a vision of something good, such as the Bible, and there is no intention or means to follow the good vision, which leaves prevailing desires to control a person. While Eberstadt points to the external relationships between Internet pornography and divorce as well as job loss to demonstrate the potential harm of Internet pornography, Willard focuses on the internal spiritual harm of allowing sexual desire to control a person‟s will to view Internet pornography.
Eberstadt (2009) points out that action was not taken against the smoking industry until the harmful problems were more clearly understood. Any claim regarding the
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potential harm of Internet pornography prompts a closer examination of Internet pornography to find out what is known, and what is yet to be examined. Pornographic material is easily accessible on the Internet in part because of the number of American households who have access to the Internet. According to the 2007 U.S Census Bureau Internet-related statistics, 61.7 percent of households in the U.S. have Internet access at home. When asked if someone from the household has access to the Internet from a location other than the home the percentage of households that have Internet access rises to 71 percent.
Much access to the Internet is related to Internet pornography. Ropelato (2006) compiled statistical data from a variety of news sources and reported that 12 percent of Internet Websites were pornographic with 25 percent of total search engine requests relating to pornography. Ropelato also states that 42.7 percent of all Internet users view Internet pornography with 13.61 percent of these users being 18-24 years of age. Empirically, concern over access to pornography among vulnerable groups such as pre-college aged students exists. One primary area of concern is the potential harmful effect of viewing Internet pornography. Empirical studies have established that a large percentage of students are exposed to pornography in some form prior to attending a college or university. Brown and L‟Engle (2009) conducted a longitudinal study with 14 middle schools in Southeastern United States. About 3,000 7th and 8th graders completed a media use survey. From this group, 1,200 students were randomly selected based on gender and race (black or white) to complete a health survey in their homes, with 1,074 completing the surveys. Two years later, 1,017 of these students completed a second survey at home. By age 14, 66 percent of the males and 39 percent of the female students
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had reported having accessed at least one sexually explicit medium in the previous year. The Internet was the most common place for boys to access sexually explicit material; and X-rated movies was a more common context for girls to access sexually explicit material. Higher sensation-seeking males and females were more likely to have viewed sexually explicit content, were more likely to have more permissive sexual norms, to exhibit more traditional gender role attitudes and to experiment with sexual behaviors at an earlier age. Especially for boys, early exposure to sexually explicit material between the ages of 12-14 positively correlated with more permissive sexual norms, more frequent sexual harassment, as well as experience with oral sex and intercourse before the ages 1416 (Brown & L‟Engle, 2009). Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor (2007) used data from the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey in an attempt to understand the extent of wanted and unwanted exposure to online pornography. The data were collected in a 2005 national telephone survey with a representative sample of 1,500 youth aged 10-17. The final number of participants completing the survey was 1,422. The authors found that 42 percent had been exposed to online pornography in the previous year with 66 percent reporting unwanted exposure only and 34 percent reporting as either wanted exposure only or both wanted and unwanted exposure. The percentage increase of desired exposure by age is noteworthy among the boys. At ages 10-11, only 1 percent of boys reported wanted exposure in the previous year. The percentages increase with older boys with 11 percent of boys 12-13 years of age wanting exposure, 26 percent of boys 14-15 years of age, and 38 percent of boys who were 16-17 years of age. Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor (2007) did not investigate the potential harmful effects of pre-college age student exposure to
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pornography. The study completed by Brown and L‟Engle (2009) seems to suggest, however, that for higher sexual sensation seeking pre-college aged students, early exposure to pornography can lead to engaging in higher risk sexual behavior. Peter and Valkenburg (2008) conducted an online survey of 2,343 Dutch adolescents aged 13-20 to determine if exposure to Internet pornography could be correlated with sexual uncertainty (the extent to which there is a lack of clarity regarding sexual beliefs and values) and attitudes toward sexual exploration. Essentially, the authors were attempting to document the potential influence of Internet pornography on the development of a person‟s sexual identity. The authors found that males used pornography at a higher rate than females, 58.3 percent versus 21 percent. The authors also found that the more frequently pornography was consumed, the more sexually uncertain the users and the more positive the views toward uncommitted sexual exploration. Peter and Valkenburg cautioned the reader away from concluding that Internet pornography causes sexual uncertainty and uncommitted sexual exploration, but they did express concern over the potential harmful influence of pornography on the development of an adolescent‟s sexual identity. Adolescents still forming their views on sexuality, and on themselves as a sexual person, according to Peter and Valkenburg, may not have had enough sexual experience to interpret the sexual images consumed when viewing pornography, thereby potentially causing confusion rather than clarity over what the images mean to their sexual choices and beliefs.
Peter and Valkenburg (2008) also conducted a study with Dutch youth to test for the influence of Internet pornography on sexual preoccupancy. Sexual preoccupancy is defined as cognitive engagement in sexual issues, such as thinking about sex and having
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an interest in participating in sexual behavior, that result in distraction from focusing on something non-sexual in nature. This study surveyed 962 Dutch youth aged 13-20 at sixmonth intervals over the course of one year. The authors were working from a cognitive theoretical framework that assumes adolescents will access online material that matches with their identity. Therefore, if sexually explicit material is accessed, the material accessed will match with the users‟ views of sexuality. The authors also entered the study with the desire to test if a preoccupation with sex preceded access to sexually explicit material or if access to sexually explicit material preceded a preoccupation with sex. According to the authors, the data suggested that adolescents‟ exposure to sexually explicit material resulted in sexual preoccupancy and that sexual preoccupancy found in adolescents at the beginning of the study did not increase the level of exposure to sexually explicit material over time.
This introduction to the current study establishes that scholars are broadly questioning the potential harm of Internet pornography (Eberstadt, 2009). The background establishes that the Internet is widely available to most families in the United States and that much content and traffic on the Internet is related to pornography. Finally, the background establishes that empirical researchers have investigated the potential harmful effects of Internet pornography on a vulnerable group, pre-college age students, and have discovered considerable exposure to Internet pornography leading to openness to risky sexual behaviors (Brown & L‟Engle, 2009; Peter & Valkenburg, 2008; Peter & Valkenburg, 2008; and Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2007). What happens to a pre-college aged student who is exposed to Internet pornography and then attends a college that believes Internet pornography is immoral and prohibits access? Attention
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will next be directed to the focus of the current research, male students attending Evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. More must be understood about the extent of the Internet pornography usage of this subpopulation of higher education.
Statement of the Problem
The empirical research on pornography reviewed thus far demonstrates that Internet pornography may have harmful effects on pre-college aged students. Internet pornography usage does not stop at the end of the pre-college age however. College students are consumers of Internet pornography as well (Boies, 2002; Caroll, PadillaWalker, Barry, & Madsen, 2008; Goodson, McCormick, & Evans, 2001; Morrison, Ellis, Morrison, Bearden, & Harriman, 2006; O‟Reilly, Knox, & Zusman, 2007). For many college students, viewing Internet pornography is acceptable. But for others viewing Internet pornography is unacceptable. Caroll, Padilla-Walker, Barry, and Madsen (2008) found that 67 percent of men and 49 percent of women agreed, in their study with 813 undergraduate and graduate students (500 women and 313 men), that viewing pornography is acceptable, while 87 percent of men and 31 percent of women reported actually viewing Internet pornography. This study was completed with students attending six different colleges and universities around the United States: a small private liberal arts college, a medium-sized religious university, three large public universities, and a large religious university. When comparing the percentages of students viewing Internet pornography with the percentages of university students in this study who reported viewing Internet pornography was acceptable, the comparison shows that 20 percent of the male college students in the study view pornography but did not agree it
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was acceptable while 18 percent of female students believe viewing pornography was acceptable but did not view it. This discrepancy, particularly for the male students, seems to suggest that an investigation is worthwhile to understand the relationship between male college students viewing of pornography while also declaring it unacceptable. Could the 20 percent of male students who view Internet pornography while reporting it is unacceptable to do so indicate a violation of personal, family, and/or religious convictions? Or could this 20 percent of male college students be an indication of a lack of control over Internet pornography use?
There is a particular population of college students for whom viewing Internet pornography is considered unacceptable and immoral by the colleges they attend and by the religious faith tradition they follow. These students attend Evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges. Freitas (2008) examined the relationship between sexuality and spirituality at seven different college campuses in different parts of the country. The campuses included Evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges, Catholic colleges, privatenonreligious colleges and public universities. Freitas collected data from 2,500 on-line surveys and then followed up with 111 student semi-structured interviews. Freitas summarized students‟ descriptions of the Evangelical colleges. Students are encouraged in their faith by peers and supported in their “Christian walk” by friends as they struggle with family difficulties, academics, personal problems, or doubts about their faith. Faculty not only are open about their personal faith commitments but also integrate Christian teachings and values into their courses, encouraging and empowering students to integrate the material they are studying into their own understanding of their faith. Because students and faculty have, for the most part, the same religious commitments and values, faith is an integral part of the relationships they form at college. Though most students can identify a small group of hard partiers on campus, they typically enjoy nonalcohol-related socializing, and they express relief that their Christian culture largely shelters them from the hookup culture they see among friends attending
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public, nonreligious private, and Catholic colleges and universities. Open discussions of faith, both one on one and in a variety of faith-based campus activities, allow students to explore their religious commitments in community. Contrary to popular stereotypes, the fact that evangelical colleges are faith-based does not necessarily restrict student learning and growth by forbidding certain topics of discussion. On the contrary, this core commitment provides students with a strong framework within which they can test their beliefs and values, discerning in the process where they fall in relation to what is presented to them as the Christian ideal. (pp. 64-65)
Foster (1998) defines the three predominant themes defining the Evangelical tradition. First is the faithful proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Son of God – his birth, life, death, and resurrection – as the way to be reconciled to God. The second predominant theme of the Evangelical tradition is that the Bible is the written Word of God, just as Jesus is the living Word of God. The third predominant theme of the Evangelical tradition is the confessional witness of the early Christian community as a faithful interpretation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. An Evangelical Christian college‟s purpose is rooted in these three themes. According to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities‟ Web site, 110 colleges and universities in the U.S. qualify as intentionally Christ-centered institutions (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, 2010). An Evangelical college would conclude that pornography is immoral and unacceptable. For example, Wheaton College (IL) requires all students, faculty, and staff to sign and abide by a Community Covenant. In a section called “Living the Christian Life,” the Covenant states that sexual immorality, such as the use of pornography, is condemned by the Bible, and references Matthew 5:27-28, which says “You have heard that it was said „you shall not commit adultery.‟ But I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Wheaton College, p. 8).
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Students at Evangelical Christian colleges, however, do view Internet pornography (Huson, 2005; Logue, 2009), despite college and religious faith prohibitions to do so. Students attending Evangelical Christian colleges who view Internet pornography face a spiritual problem (Willard, 2008) and they face a potential disciplinary problem with the respective college they attend. Eberstadt‟s (2009) article discusses the power of individual choice, even in the face of evidence that a particular choice may be harmful. Smoking is Eberstadt‟s case in point. Viewing Internet pornography at an Evangelical Christian college could be considered harmful because of the fear of being discovered and the shame of viewing the Internet pornography in secret (Huson, 2005). Since viewing pornography on the Internet is considered unacceptable and immoral at Evangelical Christian colleges, could viewing it in these contexts be an indication of a lack of personal control? Why else might a student attending an Evangelical Christian college view Internet pornography in the face of contrary personal moral convictions in addition to institutional moral and policy prohibitions? Kwee, Dominguez, and Ferrell (2007) wrote about their experiences counseling male students attending Evangelical Christian colleges. They reflected on a phenomenon of male students who came to counseling with a self diagnosed sexual addiction because of sexual desire that led to Internet pornography use and/or masturbation. Goodman (2001) defines sexual addiction “as a condition in which a behavior that can function both to produce pleasure and to reduce painful affects is employed in a pattern that is characterized by two key features: 1. recurrent failure to control the behavior, and 2. continuation of the behavior despite substantial harmful consequences” (p. 195). One of the conclusions Kwee, Dominguez, and Ferrell (2007) made was that male Christian
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college students seemed to equate sexual desire with sexual addiction. There are two challenges with this claim. The first challenge is that the concept of a sexual addiction is not completely accepted in the field of psychology or psychiatry. The diagnostic manual used by psychologists and psychiatrists, called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, does not have a specific listing for “sexual addiction” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The second challenge is that there have been few empirical studies to identify the potential sexual addiction rates in the general population not to mention in the much smaller male Evangelical Christian college population. Marshall, Marshall, Moulden, and Serran (2008) compared the rates of sexual addiction among incarcerated adult male sexual offenders and socio-economically matched community samples of non-incarcerated adult males. The study found that 43.9 percent of sexual offenders were sexual addicts and 17.9 percent of the non-incarcerated men were addicted. Logue (2009) found that 18.3 percent of the 100 Christian college male and female students surveyed perceived themselves to be sexually addicted. Huson (2005), in his unpublished qualitative dissertation research with 18 male Christian college undergraduate students, included a section on the “addictive and progressive nature of pornography” (p. 61). In this section Huson identified that several students showed signs of addictive behavior and that all of the participants said they had a very hard time terminating their Internet pornography viewing. Huson‟s study cannot be generalized to all male students attending Evangelical Christian colleges because of the small sample size; however, the reader is left with the impression that these students could be addicted to Internet pornography. Abell, Steenbergh, and Boinin (2006) found an inverse relationship between religiosity and sexual addiction with 125 college men, meaning the
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higher the religiosity measures the lower the sexual addiction indicators. However, in the same study, Abell, Steenbergh, and Boinin found that the higher the religiosity measures the higher the measures for Internet pornography compulsion. The study by Abell, Steenbergh, and Boinin included male students from Christian and non-Christian college campuses. The three empirical investigations involving Christian college men do not seem to demonstrate much clarity about the indicators of Internet pornography addiction for male Christian college students. The Abell, Steenbergh, and Boinin (2006) study however introduces the idea of Internet pornography compulsion as another way of describing problematic Internet pornography viewing among male Christian college students. One may conclude from Abell, Steenbergh, and Boinin (2006), Huson (2005), and Logue (2009) that Internet pornography as a sexual addiction has not been empirically established as an issue for male Christian college students. Furthermore, one may conclude that male Christian college students may misperceive unwanted sexual behavior, such as viewing Internet pornography, as a sexual addiction or a sexual compulsion.
The problem clearly stated then is focused on the extent of Internet pornography use among male students at Evangelical Christian liberal arts colleges and what the Internet pornography use indicates. If 20 percent of male students participating in a study and attending colleges and universities that make little to no prohibition of Internet pornography use (Caroll, Padilla-Walker, Barry, & Madsen 2008) still view it even though they state it is unacceptable to do so, is it likely that a much higher percentage of males attending Evangelical Christian colleges would report such viewing unacceptable? The first problem investigated in this study was the extent to which male students access
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Internet pornography while attending Evangelical Christian colleges strictly prohibiting its use. The second problem examined was the correlation between the extent of access to Internet pornography among male undergraduates at Evangelical Christian colleges and indicators of addiction patterns, guilt regarding online use and online sexual behavior that is social in nature.
Theoretical Framework
Patrick Carnes, a psychologist and director of a sexual disorder recovery program, is identified as the first person to write about and empirically research the idea of sexual addiction. In 1983 he wrote a book titled The Sexual Addiction. In 1986, Carnes initiated a quantitative and qualitative study with participants in sexual addiction recovery groups in an attempt to confirm his theories of sexual addiction. Surveys were distributed to 1,500 sexual addiction group participants with one to three years of recovery experience in addition to 500 surveys distributed to the partners of the sexual addiction group participants. The return rate was 20 percent with 289 addicts and 99 coaddicts participating. The second phase involved interviewing 89 recovering addicts and 37 coaddicts. Based on his research and clinical experience, Carnes identified ten signs of sexual addiction: a pattern of out-of-control sexual behavior; severe consequences due to sexual behavior; inability to stop despite adverse consequences; persistent pursuit of selfdestructive or high-risk behavior; ongoing desire or effort to limit sexual behavior; sexual obsession and fantasy as a primary coping strategy; increasing amounts of sexual experiences; severe mood changes around sexual activity; inordinate amounts of time participating in or recovering from sexual behavior; and neglect of important activities because of sexual behavior.
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In Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction, Carnes (1992) defines a sexual addiction as an unhealthy sexual relationship substitute for a healthy sexual relationship in response to a difficult family event or process. In the context of this present study, an example may be a Christian college male student who substitutes looking at Internet pornography for a healthy friendship with a roommate when academic responsibilities become stressful. Carnes writes about the belief system that makes a sexual addiction possible. A belief system, according to Carnes, is the set of facts, myths, assumptions and judgments that one holds to be true about oneself. The belief system forms the foundation for all of life‟s choices. This view of the belief system seems to mirror Willard‟s (2008) claim about the human will‟s orientation as the foundation for human desire and human action. Sexual addicts, according to Carnes, perceive themselves to hold little value, do not believe that others care about them, and that sex is their most important need. The faulty beliefs form the foundation for a distorted view of reality, with denial about the presence of an unhealthy sexual relationship being the result.
An unhealthy sexual relationship substitute in response to a difficult family event or process, a faulty belief system and a denial of problems create an environment where a sexual addiction cycle can take hold of a person‟s life, according to Carnes (1992). The cycle of sexual addiction starts with a preoccupation with sexual thoughts about sexual stimulation. The next step is ritualization, or the sexual addicts‟ repetitious behaviors that lead up to the sexual behavior. A male college student may routinel y look at Internet pornography when academic responsibilities become stressful and after his roommate leaves the room to attend class on particular days and at particular times. The third step
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in the addiction cycle, according to Carnes, is the compulsive sexual behavior, which is the end goal of the preoccupation and the ritualization. A sexual addict is one who cannot control or stop this compulsive sexual behavior. The fourth step in the addiction cycle is a feeling of despair and/or hopelessness about the sexual behavior itself and about the inability to stop or control the behavior.
The writing of Patrick Carnes posits another theoretical construct may be an influence on a male college student viewing of Internet pornography. The third step in the addiction cycle according to Carnes (1992) is engaging in a compulsive sexual behavior. Dr. Eli Coleman, a medical doctor and a professor of human sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School, like Carnes, has an interest in helping clients with problematic sexual behavior. Coleman (1988), unlike Carnes (1992), believes the term sexual compulsion is a more helpful term to describe problematic sexual behavior. Coleman describes sexual compulsion as patterns of sexual behavior as a result of an obsessive preoccupation with them. Engaging in compulsive sexual behavior results in negative consequences; failure to control the behavior is also experienced. Coleman claims that any sexual behavior can become compulsive and that “the pattern of the behavior, the motivation and the result determine whether a behavior is a healthy use of the behavior, abusive, or compulsive” (p. 191). Coleman cautions describing problematic sexual behavior as an addiction, claiming that the sexual addiction label presupposes addiction to all sexual behavior. The use...