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dc.contributor.authorMcDowall, Joseph
dc.contributor.editorPaul J. Locher
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T12:13:30Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T12:13:30Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.date.modified2011-10-17T07:26:43Z
dc.identifier.issn02762374
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/38445
dc.description.abstractConsiderable attention has been directed in the literature to exploring the pornographic or obscene nature of images depicting sexual content, however relatively few studies have attempted to investigate possible desirable aspects of such material by discriminating between these concepts and the erotic. This study required 37 female and 22 male visual arts students to complete two measures of their visual aesthetic response and their sexual interest and orientation before applying a semantic differential to reveal differences in individuals' understanding of the concepts erotic, pornographic, and obscene. They then rated 150 color and monochrome photographs depicting single and multiple female and male nudes in terms of how erotic, pornographic, or obscene they were perceived to be, and how much liking and pleasingness they elicited in the viewers. Erotic as a concept clearly was differentiated from the others by association with positive descriptors (e.g., dynamic, strong, emotional, relevant, tasteful, good), with pornographic characterised as more superficial (e.g., transparent, repetitive, physical) and obscene being the most unusual and disturbing. Participants gave more variable responses in their erotic ratings of images compared with pornographic and obscene. Significant sex-of-viewer differences were observed. Females found most content erotic except explicit images of two males that were rated most obscene; males rated images containing only males of little erotic interest. In future research, more consideration needs to be given to image content before it can be deemed pornographic and its likely effects on the viewer assumed.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent13936828 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherBaywood Publishing Company
dc.publisher.placeNew York
dc.publisher.urihttp://baywood.metapress.com/app/home/issue.asp?referrer=parent&backto=journal,8,58;linkingpublicationresults,1:300310,1
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom93
dc.relation.ispartofpageto115
dc.relation.ispartofissue1
dc.relation.ispartofjournalEmpirical Studies of the Arts
dc.relation.ispartofvolume26
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchStudies in Creative Arts and Writing not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchPerforming Arts and Creative Writing
dc.subject.fieldofresearchVisual Arts and Crafts
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode199999
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode1904
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode1905
dc.titleErotic, Pornographic, or Obscene: Factors Influencing the Perception of Photographs of the Nude
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.facultyArts, Education & Law Group, Queensland College of Art
gro.rights.copyright© 2008 Baywood Publishing. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
gro.date.issued2008
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorMcDowall, Joseph J.


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