Secrecy and deception: values, shame, and endorsement of hiding one’s pornography viewing

Pornography’s effects have received renewed attention, with particular concern about how viewing impacts committed partner relationships. Given that secrecy and deception about pornography viewing are linked with negative relationship outcomes, we sought to identify variables associated with persons’ endorsement of hiding it. We explored this in two studies. Results from a regression analysis suggest that consumer moral disapproval of pornography and experiences of shame were associated with hiding behavior. Results from a path analysis suggest that the positive relationship between sexual conservatism and endorsement of hiding viewing from one’s committed partner is mediated by both moral incongruence (associated with viewing) and perception that pornography causes a host of harms. Persons with moral qualms related to their viewing were especially likely to endorse hiding it if they were shame-prone. These findings point to the importance of sexual values and shame in relation to persons hiding their viewing; they also suggest that individuals who internalize messaging that pornography causes serious harms are more likely to keep their viewing secret. This suggests that practitioners, policymakers, and advocates need to be circumspect about their messaging, avoiding shame-inducing rhetoric, while keeping in mind the centrality of people’s values in informing attitudes and behaviors about pornography.