Attitudes Toward Erotica Questionnaire

Abstract

The Attitudes Toward Erotica Questionnaire (ATEQ) is a specialized psychological instrument developed in response to a significant controversy at a Midwestern university regarding the display and availability of sexually explicit materials. Originating from a University Task Force on Pornography, the ATEQ was designed to systematically investigate the attitudes of students toward various forms of erotica.

The questionnaire comprises 21 items structured into three primary subscales: the Harmful scale (assessing negative societal effects), the Positive scale (assessing perceived benefits), and the Restrict scale (measuring support for regulation). The ATEQ is highly adaptable, allowing researchers to focus the items on specific types of sexually explicit material—such as magazines (e.g., Playboy, Hustler) or video media (e.g., X-rated movies)—rather than measuring attitudes toward erotica in general. Initial factor analysis suggested that while the three subscales exist, overall attitudes toward this material might be organized primarily along a simple binary dimension of good versus bad.

Keywords

Erotica, pornography, sexual attitudes, community standards, restriction, media effects, psychological scale, sexual explicit material, Likert scale.

Authors

ILSA L. LOTTES, MARTIN S. WEINBERG.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the ATEQ is to provide a standardized, quantifiable measure of individual attitudes regarding the perceived impact and appropriate regulation of various types of sexually explicit material. Its creation was directly motivated by a campus conflict, highlighting the institutional need for empirical data to inform policy discussions concerning sexual content.

The instrument is particularly useful for assessing community standards, a critical concept often referenced in obscenity law. By measuring attitudes toward perceived harm, positive function, and necessary restriction of specific media, the ATEQ offers a tool for social scientists to quantify public sentiment surrounding sensitive issues related to sexual content and its social implications.

Construct

The ATEQ measures the psychological construct of Attitudes Toward Erotica, operationalized through three distinct, yet related, dimensions that capture the complexity of how individuals evaluate sexually explicit material.

• Harmful Scale (9 items): Measures the extent to which respondents attribute negative societal or individual consequences to the consumption or availability of erotica (e.g., exploitation of women or men, moral breakdown, increased probability of sexual violence).

• Positive Scale (7 items): Measures the extent to which respondents attribute beneficial effects to the material (e.g., improved sexual relations, providing an outlet for sexual pressures, teaching sexual techniques).

• Restrict Scale (5 items): Measures the degree of support for legal or social limitations on the availability and display of the material, assessing adherence to principles such as freedom of speech versus calls for illegality or censorship.

Validity

The construct validity of the Harmful, Positive, and Restrict scales was supported by statistically significant results that aligned with predicted correlations and group differences based on established sociological and psychological theory. The research demonstrated that attitudes toward erotica correlated predictably with personal characteristics and behavioral patterns.

Lottes, Weinberg, and Weller (1993) found that respondents who were more religious, less sexually active, and viewed erotica less often consistently evaluated all four tested types of sexually explicit material as being more harmful and having fewer positive effects, while simultaneously supporting more restrictions on availability. Conversely, respondents who were less religious, more sexually active, and viewed the material more often reported lower scores on the Harmful and Restrict scales. Furthermore, males and individuals who had previously viewed the specific type of material being assessed reported higher scores on the Positive scale and lower scores on the Harmful and Restrict scales, compared to females and those without exposure.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the ATEQ subscales was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha in a sample of 663 college students, examining attitudes across four distinct types of sexually explicit materials: Playboy, Hustler, adult bookstore magazines, and X-rated movies or videos. The reliability coefficients indicated generally strong to acceptable internal consistency across all subscales.

For the Harmful scale, Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .84 to .90, indicating high reliability. The Restrict scale also demonstrated strong internal consistency, with alphas consistently ranging from .84 to .85 across the materials. The Positive scale showed acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .73 to .78, confirming that the items within each scale generally measure their intended constructs (Lottes, Weinberg, & Weller, 1993).

Factor Analysis

A rigorous statistical analysis, including a varimax factor analysis with an orthogonal rotation, was performed on the 84 responses (21 items for each of the four erotic types) collected from the initial student sample. The analysis revealed a dominant underlying structure: a single major factor emerged, which accounted for a substantial 63% of the total variance.

The prominence of this single factor, evidenced by all factor loadings having an absolute value greater than .71, suggests a strong underlying commonality among the items. While the ATEQ is scored using three distinct scales (Harmful, Positive, Restrict), the factor analysis indicates that, for the student population studied, attitudes toward sexually explicit material are largely organized along a simple, overarching binary dimension, effectively categorizing the material as either generally “good” or generally “bad.”

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological Questionnaire.

Format: 5-point Likert-type choices. Respondents indicate their agreement/disagreement using choices ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The questionnaire consists of 21 items applied specifically to a researcher-defined type of erotica.

Language Available: English (Original development language).

Population Group: College students and general adult populations.

Age Group: Adults (typically 18+).

Population Details: Initial validation sample consisted of 663 university students (52% female) from a Midwestern university, achieving a 70% response rate.

Test Methodology: Responses are provided by writing the corresponding number (1 to 5). Machine-scoreable answer sheets can be used if computer scoring is available. The 21 items are placed randomly throughout the questionnaire to reduce the probability of a response set bias. Completion time is approximately 8 minutes per set of 21 items (i.e., per type of erotica assessed).

Keywords

Sexual explicit material, obscenity law, community standards, Cronbach’s alpha, factor analysis, sexual behavior, sexual morality, construct validity.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: ILSA L. LOTTES, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; MARTIN S. WEINBERG, Indiana University.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: Developed prior to or around 1993, based on the primary validation study (Lottes, Weinberg, & Weller, 1993).

Permissions and Fees: Information regarding current commercial permissions or fees is not provided in the source material. Researchers seeking to utilize the ATEQ should contact the corresponding authors for details on usage rights.

Scoring Summary: The Harmful scale (9 items) ranges from 9 to 45; higher scores indicate greater attribution of harm. The Positive scale (7 items) ranges from 7 to 35; higher scores indicate greater attribution of positive effects. The Restrict scale (5 items) ranges from 5 to 25; it requires reverse scoring for items 2, 3, 8, and 16 before summation. Higher scores on the Restrict scale indicate stronger support for restrictions on the material.

Reference’s

Lottes, I. L., Weinberg, M. S., & Weller, I. (1993). Reactions to pornography on a college campus: For or against? Sex Roles, 29, 69–89.

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Items of the Attitudes Toward Erotica Questionnaire

Directions: Indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the following statements by writing the number corresponding to one of the five response options below in the space provided.

1. The material exploits women.

2. The material should be publicly sold (magazines) and publicly shown (movies).

3. The material should be available to adults.

4. The availability of the material leads to a breakdown in community morals.

5. The material can improve sex relations among adults.

6. I feel the material is offensive.

7. The material exploits men.

8. The material should be available to minors (under 18).

9. The material increases the probability of sexual violence.

10. In this material, the positioning and treatment of men is degrading to men.

11. The material may provide an outlet for bottled-up sexual pressures.

12. In this material, sex and violence are often shown together.

13. This material can enhance the pleasure of masturbation for women.

14. This material should be made illegal.

15. The material may teach people sexual techniques.

16. This material should be protected by the 1st Amendment (freedom of speech and the press).

17. People should be made aware of the positive effects of this material.

18. This material serves a more positive than negative function in society.

19. This material can enhance the pleasure of masturbation for men.

20. People should be made aware of the negative effects of this material.

21. In this material, the positioning and treatment of women is degrading to women.