Pornography preferences, short-term mating, and infidelity: Men exhibit more interest in group sex scenarios than women, & intentions to commit infidelity are also associated with greater interest in group sex scenarios

Evolutionary approaches: Integrating pornography preferences, short-term mating, and infidelity. Catherine Salmon, Maryanne L. Fisher, Rebecca L. Burch. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 148, 1 October 2019, Pages 45-49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.030

Abstract: There are a number of questions concerning human sexual psychology where pornography consumption may be particularly informative, yet evolutionary psychologists have been slow to incorporate it into research designs. This study examines the relationships between pornography preferences, individual's sex, proxies for short-term mating strategies (e.g., life history strategy, sociosexuality), and infidelity. For example, we predict that men, more than women, will be interested in group sex (i.e., threesomes and gangbang) scenarios in pornography as a result of selective pressures for sperm competition. Further, specific activities and sexual situations in pornography are likely to be differentially appealing based on the sexual strategies pursued by consumers. Thus, women who have higher, versus lower, intentions of committing infidelity will be more interested in activities like group sex, given the latter involves no commitment. Results suggest that men exhibit more interest in group sex scenarios than women, and intentions to commit infidelity are also associated with greater interest in group sex scenarios. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the usefulness of incorporating consumption of pornography measures in evolutionary social psychological research.