Contrary to Common Belief, Female Porn Stars have Great Self Esteem

Or so claims so new research: Robert Gonzalez in io9:

Pornographic actresses are probably having more sex than you. No surprise there. But a newly published study suggests there's a good chance many of them have better self esteem, to boot — not to mention more enjoyable sex lives, better body images, and more positive outlooks on life. As for the widely held belief that female porn actresses share a history of sexual abuse (commonly known as the Damaged Goods Hypothesis), the researchers found the actresses were no more "damaged" than their non-pornographic counterparts.

In a study recounted in the latest issue of the Journal of Sex Research, a team of investigators led by Shippensburg University psychologist James D. Griffith surveyed 177 porn actresses on "a variety of behavioral, social, and psychological dimensions," namely: demographic information (age, ethnicity, etc), sexual behaviors and attitudes, self-esteem, quality of life and drug use.

"Some descriptions of actresses in pornography have included attributes such as drug addiction, homelessness, poverty, desperation, being pimped out, and being victims of sexual abuse," write the researchers. "Some have made extreme assertions, such as claiming that all women in pornography were sexually abused as children."

But studies on women in porn are lacking. And without data, argue Griffith and his colleagues, "claims regarding the attributes of pornography actresses lack support."