Behind-Scenes Study : Researcher Finds Erotic Film Performers Aren’t Stars Off-Camera
A San Diego graduate student was awarded a doctorate in psychology after his 247-page dissertation demonstrated that the off-camera sex lives of porn movie stars are tamer than their on-screen exploits.
Richard G. Stiga, who earned his doctorate in January from United States International University, said his work, “A Study of Erotic Film Performers--A Group of Occupational Exhibitionists,” showed that most porn stars act for the money and film experience, not because they are sexually hyperactive.
“The off-camera (sex) lives of (erotic film) performers as a group was about what you would see if you took a cross-section of people in a major metropolitan area,” Stiga said in a telephone interview Wednesday from New Jersey, where he is a psychologist.
Asked why he would spend two years researching porn stars, Stiga said:
“Why? Ummm. Why? Ummm . . . . I thought it was a topical subject that was kind of interesting to me and might interest other people to read.
“This is a population that had not, to my knowledge, been researched or studied before. Nothing was known about their lives and what their off-screen behavior is like and what their backgrounds are like . . . . This would hopefully supply this kind of information.”
During his research, Stiga sent questionnaires to 27 female and 29 male erotic film performers from New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Stiga said most of the porn actors responded anonymously, but he did interview a few in person.
“Then I would try to obtain a film just to see what they did,” he said. In all, he said, his research required him to view “more than several” erotic films.
Stiga queried the erotic actors about their families and why they went into porn films. He asked how performing intimate acts on camera affected their sexual fantasies, preferences and performance in their private lives.
Stiga’s doctoral research found that the average age for women erotic performers was 21.6 years, compared to 25.7 years for men. Women spent an average of 1.3 years in the industry and acted in an average of 8.9 erotic films, compared to the average five-year and 84-film career for men.
Other findings include:
- Porn actors are not good material for marriage. Of those who married, 90% ended up getting divorced.
“Having sex on screen with other people puts an extraordinary pressure on relationships,” said Stiga.
- Most porn actors came from happy homes. The dissertation showed that 59% of the porn actors and actresses said they had “close and loving” relationships with their mothers, while 50% reported “close and loving” relationships with their fathers. In addition, nearly four out of 10 said their parents went to church at least once a week.
- Sixty-five percent said making money was a “highly important” reason for going into porn films. Acting experience and curiosity were also cited as motives.
“Psychology is not a conservative area, and it prides itself on looking at unusual topics, topics that the general public doesn’t understand or is not interested in,” said Tom Steiner, chairman of the committee that approved Stiga’s dissertation.
