SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Who knew that Mormon girls were so socially liberal? The results of a study to be published in the Journal of Adolescent Research next month found that half of female college students, including those attending Brigham Young University, have no problem with the idea of pornography. Naturally, the internet is being held responsible.Although all of the young women in question denied viewing erotic material themselves, half of them said that they didn’t see anything wrong with people doing so; in fact, they believe that viewing erotic material is an entirely acceptable way for people to express their sexuality.

In addition to 813 students aged 18 – 26 in six universities including BYU being interviewed online by sociology researcher Jason Carroll and his team, 623 parents were interviewed. The vast majority of mothers strongly indicated that they think differently from their daughters, with 80-percent saying looking at porn is not acceptable. Fathers were slightly more flexible in their views, with 37-percent siding with their daughters.

Speaking to USA Today, Carroll opined about the reasons behind his study’s findings.

According to Carroll, wireless technology and the internet are to blame for the college student’s more tolerant view of explicit imagery, with images easily, especially on cell phones. As Carroll sees it, the world has reached an “age of pocket porn.”

While men still comprise the majority of acknowledged consumers of online and offline adult entertainment, with 86-percent knowing where to find their favorite indulgences as compared to 31-percent of women – 20-percent of men admit to doing so daily. A much more modest 4.1-percent of women have the same routine.

Although the entire results of the study have not yet been released, the fragments that have are inspiring a lively debate about whether the internet has really brought about this change in thinking among even conservative Mormon university students – or whether an overall softening of society’s views on previously taboo subject might also be involved.

”These women are part of a rising generation that is deeming pornography as more acceptable and more mainstream,” Carroll concluded to USA Today.

The study, which is unique in its examination of online porn outside of an “addiction” model, indicated that those who enjoy pornography are more likely to indulge in other “risky” behaviors, including binge drinking, pot smoking, and multiple sex partners over time – but also observed that such behaviors decrease over time, whereas enjoyment of pornography continues steady.

Carroll questions how the differences in male and female consumption and approval ratings will affect them as they partner and marry. “Both the young men and women in our study expressed interest in marriage,” he observed, “but such differing positions between men and women on pornography may create an area of tension when it comes to couple formation.”

Obviously the marriage-minded porn consumer needs to exercise at least the same level of discernment when selecting a partner that s/he exercises when selecting a video.