The primary objective of this study is to determine if results across two previous samples are replicable in a more generalizable sample of intact couples and if these findings can be confirmed by both members of intact couples. Further, the use of intact dyads will allow us to more accurately assess apparent discrepancies between use of pornography within relationships and partners' knowledge of such use and the role that such discrepancies play in attitudes towards partner's use of pornography and relationship satisfaction. We also seek to replicate and extend findings reported by others that suggest that relationship quality (e.g. sexual/relationship satisfaction, intimacy, and communication) is associated differently with different patterns of pornography use within the relationships (e.g. solitary vs. joint use, hidden use vs. open use, etc.). Finally, we wish to replicate and extend slowly accruing findings concerning attachment orientation and pornography use from our previous research. Replication and Extension of Patterns of Pornography Use Findings ----------------------------------------------------------------- We have run three studies that have informed our understanding of the patterns of pornography use within relationships (see Fisher, Kohut, & Campbell, 2016; [the “Burrito” study][1]). These studies relied on convenience samples of individuals with experience in romantic relationships. Fisher et al. (2016) summarizes two samples; one was entirely voluntary and recruited through news media and social media while the other sample was recruited and paid through Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The [“Burrito” study][2], also recruited a paid sample through MTurk. The proposed analyses seek to describe patterns of pornography use within relationships among a sample of 200 paid American couples who were recruited by a market research firm to match distribution estimates of age and political affiliation of married Americans—factors that have been linked to pornography use ([Wright, 2013][3]; [Wright, Bae & Funk, 2013][4]; see also unpublished data in [Smith, Marsden, Hout & Kim, 201][5]1). Guided by prior research, including the studies referred to above, we expect that: **Dyadic Patterns of Pornography Use** - Among relationships in which pornography is used, shared pornography use accompanied by solitary male and solitary female pornography use will be the modal dyadic pattern of use. The next most common arrangements will involve male solitary use accompanied by female non-use and male solitary use accompanied by female solitary use. *Analysis: descriptive statistics.* **Solitary Use** - Males will report higher frequencies of solitary pornography use than females. *Analysis: paired t-test.* - Males will report more time spent using pornography alone than females. *Analysis: paired t-test.* **Hidden Use** - Most pornography users (~70%) should report that their partners are aware that they use pornography alone. There should be no gender difference in partner awareness. *Analysis: 2 [gender: male vs. female] x 3 [partner knowledge: yes vs. unsure vs. no] Chi-Square.* - Significantly more male pornography users (~60%) than female pornography users (~40%) will report attempts to intentionally hide some aspect of their pornography use from their partners. *Analysis: 2 [gender: male vs. female] x 2 [attempted hiding: yes vs. no] Chi-Square.* - Most individuals who hide an aspect of their pornography use (~70%) should report perceived success in hiding some aspect of pornography use from their partners and there will be no difference across gender. *Analysis: 2 [gender: male vs. female] x 3 [Perceived hiding success: yes vs. unsure vs. no] Chi-Square.* **Attitudes Concerning Partner’s Use** - Pornography users will generally believe that their partners’ approve of their solitary pornography use. *Analysis: Descriptive statistics should indicate a skewed distribution with the majority of the responses falling above the midpoint of Likert-like scale. This will be formally tested with a one sample t-test that compares the obtained mean to the value that corresponds to the midpoint of the “disapproval” scale anchors.* - Among males and females who use pornography alone, females will report higher perceptions of partner approval than will males. *Analysis: Independent t-test. Males perceptions of their partners' approval will be close the midpoint of the scale while females’ perceptions of their partners' approval will be above the midpoint. These point predictions are less firm and will not be tested formally.* - Participants who believe that their partners’ use pornography will generally report approval of such use. *Analysis: Descriptive statistics should indicate a skewed distribution with the majority of the responses falling above the midpoint of Likert-like scale. This will be formally tested with a one sample t-test that compares the obtained mean to the value that corresponds to the midpoint of the “disapproval” scale anchors.* - Among participants who know about their partners' pornography use, females will report less approval of their partners’ pornography use than males. *Analysis: Independent t-test. Females' approval of their partners pornography use will be close to the midpoint of the scale while males' approval will be above the midpoint of scale. These point predictions are less firm and will not be tested formally.* **Perceptions of Partner Use** - Males will report lower perceptions of the frequency of their partners' solitary pornography use than will females. *Analysis: Paired t-test.* - Males will report that their partners spend less time using pornography than females *Analysis: Paired t-test.* - Males with pornography using partners will report less awareness of their partners’ attempts to hide their use than females with pornography using partners. *Analysis: 2 [gender: male vs. female] x 3 [Percieved hiding: Yes vs. Unsure vs. No] Chi-Square.* **Shared Use** - Males and females within couples will report similar frequencies of shared use with their partners. *Analysis: Paired t-test.* - Males and females within couples will report spending similar amounts of time with shared pornography use with their partners. *Analysis: Paired t-test.* - Females will report less enjoyment of shared pornography use than males. *Analysis: Paired t-test.* - Females will report more perceived partner enjoyment of shared pornography use than males *Analysis: Paired t-test.* **Exploratory questions** - Both members of each couple were asked about their perceptions of their partner’s use of pornography; their knowledge of partner’s attempts to hide pornography; the nature of what their partner attempted to hide; and whether or not the partner who was hiding their pornography had become aware that there partner had uncovered what was being hidden. Aside from the one gender prediction outlined above, no other strong predictions will be made at this time. *Analysis: These data points will be explored with various analytic approaches to gain a better sense of partners’ knowledge of one another’s pornography use, and typical success or failure of hiding pornography use from a partner.* - Among couples in which pornography is used alone by at least partner, the using partner was asked to indicate their perceptions of their partners’ approval if partners knew of the pornography use or expected approval if partner who did not know of such use found out about it. At the same time, if participants believed that their partner used pornography they were asked to indicate their approval, if they did not believe that their partner used pornography, they were asked to indicate their approval if they found out that their partner had been using pornography. *Analysis: These data points will be explored with various analytic approaches to gain a better sense of pornography users’ accuracy or bias in perceiving their partners’ attitudes towards the pornography use.* Secondary Predictions --------------------- Extensive predicition have been made to advance secondary goals of this study. These include predicitons about: - Sampling criteria - The initiation of shared pornography use - Perceived impacts of pornography - Attitudes towards partners' solitary use of pornography - Sexual communication and intimacy - Anxious and Avoidant Attachment The full list of predictions and associated analyses can be found in the [Word document][6] attached to this section. [1]: http://osf.io/gz9t5 [2]: http://osf.io/gz9t5 [3]: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2011.628132#.VxuhhPkrLcs [4]: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-013-0116-y#page-1 [5]: http://gss.norc.org/ [6]: https://osf.io/nk4mg/