Recent debates about the porn industry haven't seemed to take this ambivalence into account. A Duke University freshman starred in hardcore porn videos and took to the blogs to defend her right to do so. Editorials about Britain's new Internet porn filter have focused on the government's right to regulate the web. Both of these are compelling and understandable points of concern, but they hinge on this issue of rights: The right to voluntarily work in the erotica industry without harassment, the right to enjoy sex work, the right to watch porn without interrogation from your government.

These are all valid issues. But even if 18-year-olds are free to make sex tapes and middle-aged men are free to watch them without Big Brother's scrutiny, there is a lingering moral question: Is watching porn a good thing to do?

Different groups have very different ways of answering this question. Some were predictable. White evangelicals and people over 68 are the least likely to approve of watching smut: 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Millennials and people who consider themselves religiously unaffiliated approve of porn the most: 45 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

But some trends are more surprising. White Catholics are twice as likely as Hispanic Catholics to find watching porn morally acceptable—28 versus 14 percent. People with an advanced degree are somewhat less likely than college graduates to think it's morally acceptable to watch (34 versus 40 percent). But both of those groups are significantly more likely than high-school grads to approve—only 23 percent of that group told PRRI it was okay.

There were especially curious trends in how some groups saw the legal question versus the moral question. Roughly the same percentage of Generation X-ers (in this survey, people aged 34 to 48) feel like it's wrong and think it should be legally restricted, with 33 percent approving morally and 34 percent saying they'd oppose legal restrictions. Among Hispanic Catholics, on the other hand, only 14 percent approve morally, but 66 percent say they'd oppose legal restrictions.

There could be a shame factor at work. Just because people disapprove of something doesn't mean they don't do it—almost certainly, at least a few of the people who said they think watching porn is wrong still indulge once in a while. Respondents might have been ashamed to say they approve of porn on a poll question, or they might have been answering on behalf of their "better selves"—yes, maybe they watch it, but no, they don't think it's right.

But even accounting for this, the data points to one major conclusion: Most Americans simply don't approve of porn, in any sense. Importantly, this isn't necessarily a call to action, especially because it's unclear what legal regulation of porn would look like, exactly: A government-imposed filter on certain websites? A system of Internet users opting in or opting out of the ability to see hardcore pornography, like Britain has created? Greater regulation of porn production in general?

But the sentiment still matters. Most people favor legal restrictions on porn, and an even greater number are morally uncomfortable with watching it. As emotionally charged discussions about erotica continue, it's worth remembering that most people fall somewhere between pro-porn feminists and the misogynist frat boys who made death threats against the student sex worker at Duke. Americans may understand the right to make and watch porn, but they still don't think it's a good thing.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.