Lights,camera, condoms! Assessing college men's attitudes toward condom use in pornography

ABSTRACT

Objective: Investigate male college students' attitudes toward actors' use of condoms in pornography. Participants: Two hundred thirteen undergraduate males attending a large, state-supported midwestern university in the fall semester, 2012. Methods: Using a Web-based procedure, participants completed questionnaires assessing their pornography use, sexual history characteristics, and their attitudes toward condom use by adult performers. Results: Factor analysis of the 11-item condom use attitudes questionnaire supported 2 distinct subscales: Condom Supportive Attitudes and Condom Critical Attitudes. Although participants typically agreed with statements supportive of condom use and generally disagreed with statements critical of condom use in pornography, gay men had significantly higher condom supportive subscale scores than did heterosexual men. Neither subscale was correlated with weekly viewing of pornography. Conclusions: Although some producers of adult films argue that actors wearing condoms will displease many viewers, current findings suggest that young men express support for use of condoms by pornographic film actors.     

Population changes and the social budget: fears,hopes and facts

The impact of current demographic trends in the Federal Republic of Germany on social benefits is determined by linking calculations based on demographic models with others based on economic models. The author concludes that some of the additional costs of caring for the elderly caused by demographic aging will be partially offset by reductions in expenditure in other branches of social security.     

The future of old-age security in the Federal Republic of Germany

The future aspects of old age security in the Federal Republic of Germany are considered primarily according to the criteria of demographic changes to be expected or presumed. The starting point of our simulations is a strongly declining birth rate which effects a drop in the population growth as well as different criteria concerning the age structure. It is shown that, apart from the demographic structure, the economic development is of decisive importance for old age security. By a model variant obtained by a broad spectrum of simulations, it is shown that an increase in the standard of living affecting all population groups (including pensioners) can be attained provided that the manpower potential is well utilized and the labor productivity is progressing satisfactorily. However, by no means can problems concerning strategies of distribution that are likely to appear be solved by a complete denial of the financing procedure by persons currently employed. The social security of the older persons who no longer are gainfully employed can be financed by the current national product. (author's)     

Economic theory as political philosophy

I defend the integrity of the question of what the cognitive status of economic theory could amount to, and I argue that the theory is best understood as a compartment of formal political philosophy, in particular a species of contractarianism. This seems particularly apt as an account of general equilibrium theory. Given the intentional character of the explanatory variables of economic theory and the role of information in effecting choice, it is argued that economic theory is unlikely to secure the predictive power that would enable it to function as a factual instead of a normative theory.