Measurement Invariance of the Pornography Consumption Inventory Among Gender, Age, Relationships Status and Sexual Orientation

The Pornography Consumption Inventory (PCI) assesses motivations for pornography consumption and has been validated in various cultural contexts. In the Spanish validation, its 13 items are distributed into three factors: Emotional avoidance, Sexual curiosity, and Excitement seeking and sexual pleasure. Given the differences in the use and effects of pornography, it is relevant to ensure that the PCI measures pornography consumption equivalently across different groups. The general objective of this study is to further examine its psychometric properties in the Spanish population by analyzing its measurement invariance across gender, age, relationship status, and sexual orientation. The sample consisted of 1,366 cisgender Spanish adults. Results indicated that the three-factor model showed an overall acceptable, although not optimal, fit across subgroups. Also, the results showed acceptable strict measurement invariance of the PCI across groups and revealed differences in its dimensions by gender, age, and sexual orientation. Furthermore, in general, its dimensions were positively associated with propensity for sexual excitation, solitary sexual desire, dimensions of the subjective orgasm experience, and frequency of pornography consumption. Overall, findings support the use of the PCI for group comparisons, although results should be interpreted with caution.