Boys who start watching pornography at a young age are more likely to grow into misogynistic men who want power over women, a new study claims.

Researchers at at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found a clear link between the age at which a boy is first exposed to porn and his likelihood to display sexist attitudes later in life.

However, they also found that men who are exposed later in life are more likely to be sexually promiscuous.

'The goal of our study was to examine how age of first exposure to pornography, and the nature of said first exposure, predicts conformity to two masculine norms,' explained Alyssa Bischmann, a doctoral student at the university who presented the research.

The two norms are sexually promiscuous behavior - or the likelihood of being a playboy - and the desire for power over women, she explained.

The younger a boy starts watching pornography the more likely it is that he will have a misogynistic view of women, a new study claims (stock image)

Bischmann and her colleagues surveyed 330 undergraduate men, age 17 to 54 years old, at a large Midwestern university. Participants were 85 percent white and primarily heterosexual (93 percent).

Each man was asked about his first exposure to pornography - specifically, what age they were when it happened and whether it was intentional, accidental or forced.

Participants were then asked to respond to a series of 46 questions designed to measure the two masculine norms.

Among the group, the average age of first exposure was 13.37 years old. with the youngest exposure as early as five and the latest older than 26.

SEXISM CAUSES DEPRESSION, STUDY SHOWS Sexism is bad for men's mental health, research has revealed. Scientists studied 20,000 men, analyzing how strongly they conformed to 11 typical ideas of masculinity. They found that men who wanted power over women and had a 'playboy attitude', were significantly more depressed than others. Those men were also less likely to seek mental health treatment. The American Psychological Association says the findings should act as a warning to dispel the 'snowflake' reputation afforded men's mental health treatment. Each study focused on the relationship between mental health and 11 norms generally considered to reflect society's expectations of traditional masculinity. These were: desire to win

need for emotional control

risk-taking

violence

dominance

playboy (sexual promiscuity)

primacy of work (importance placed on one's job)

power over women

disdain for homosexuality

pursuit of status After recording each man's social attitudes, they looked at their mental health, and whether they have sought treatment. The biggest drivers for poor mental health were: a playboy attitude, insistence on being self-reliant, and wanting power over women. The one factor that did not detrimentally affect mental health was 'primacy of work' - prioritizing one's job. Advertisement

Most of the men surveyed said their first time viewing porn was accidental at 43.5 percent.

Fewer men said their first exposure was intentional, at 33.4 percent, and 17.2 percent said it was forced upon them. Six percent did not indicate the nature of the exposure.

Researchers then found a significant association between age of first exposure and adherence to the two masculine norms, with different associations for each.

'We found that the younger a man was when he first viewed pornography, the more likely he was to want power over women,' Bischmann said.

'The older a man was when he first viewed pornography, the more likely he would want to engage in playboy behavior.'

This finding was surprising, according to co-author Chrissy Richardson, MA, also from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, because the researchers had expected both norms to be higher with a lower first age of exposure.

'The most interesting finding from this study was that older age at first exposure predicted greater adherence to the playboy masculine norms,' Richardson explained.

'That finding has sparked many more questions and potential research ideas because it was so unexpected based on what we know about gender role socialization and media exposure.'

Bischmann said more research needs to be done, and explained that she suspects that the findings may be related to unexamined variables.

For example, a participant's level of religion, sexual performance anxiety, negative sexual experiences or whether their first exposure experience was positive or negative could play a more significant role than age.

It also did not matter how the participants were exposed - the researchers found no significant association between the nature of the exposure and attitudes.

'We were surprised that the type of exposure did not affect whether someone wanted power over women or to engage in playboy behaviors. We had expected that intentional, accidental or forced experiences would have differing outcomes,' said Bischmann.

The findings, which were presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association provide confirmed existing evidence that pornography viewing has a real impact on heterosexual men, especially with regard to their views about sex roles, according to Richardson.

Knowing more about the relationship between men's pornography use and beliefs about women might assist sexual assault prevention efforts, especially among young boys who may have been exposed to pornography at an early age.

This information could also inform the treatment of various emotional and social issues experienced by young heterosexual men who view pornography, she said.