{n “title”: “Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure”,n “content”: “
1. Abstract
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The Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024) is a psychometric instrument designed to evaluate contemporary multidimensional perceptions of cisgender women’s involvement in diverse sectors of commercial sex. Developed within the context of evolving digital and relational modalities of erotic labor, the scale systematically assesses public attitudes across four operational domains: webcamming, sugar relationships, prostitution (street- and indoor-based direct sexual commerce), and pornography. Diverging from legacy unidimensional measures that conflate sex work attitudes with generalized moral condemnation or political conservatism, the scale bifurcates evaluative responses across two primary psychometric factors: Agency (the degree to which engagement is perceived as autonomous, self-directed, economically empowering, and empowering) and Harm (the degree to which engagement is viewed as exploitative, physically dangerous, psychologically damaging, and coercive).
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The scale consists of 24 items, partitioned into four 6-item domain batteries (each comprising 3 Agency items and 3 Harm items) administered following standardized descriptive vignettes that define each sex work domain. Responses are recorded on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (\”not at all\”) to 7 (\”extremely\”). Evaluated on a diverse national sample of adult United States residents recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk, the instrument demonstrates robust internal consistency across all four domains: Agency subscale Cronbach’s alphas range from .78 (sugar relationships) to .90 (webcamming), while Harm subscale alphas range from .85 (sugar relationships) to .89 (pornography). Exploratory factor analyses corroborate a consistent two-factor structure across each independent domain. The Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure represents a psychometrically rigorous, theoretically anchored tool for social psychologists, sociologists, public health researchers, and criminologists examining the socio-cognitive underpinnings of stigma, gender ideologies, legislative attitudes, and human rights advocacy concerning modern sexual labor.
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2. Keywords
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Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure, sex work, erotic labor, agency, harm, webcamming, sugar relationships, pornography, prostitution, psychometrics
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3. Authors
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The Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure was developed by an interdisciplinary team of social psychological researchers specializing in intergroup relations, prejudice, social ideology, and human sexuality:
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- Hanna Puffer, M.A. — Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. ORCID: 0000-0002-3903-8208. Puffer’s research focuses on the social perception of marginalized groups, gender relations, systemic stigma surrounding commercial sex, and the psychological mechanisms governing public support for or opposition to sex workers’ rights.
- Gordon Hodson, Ph.D. (1969–2023) — Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Hodson was an internationally renowned scholar in political psychology, intergroup bias, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and prejudice reduction. His methodological and conceptual contributions helped elucidate how generalized ideological worldviews translate into specific outgroup evaluations, moral regulation, and punitive socio-legal policy preferences.
- Elvira Prusaczyk, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Prusaczyk’s work investigates ideological beliefs, gendered double standards, and cognitive schemas underlying interpersonal judgments, interpersonal perception, and social inequality.
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Correspondence regarding the original development of the instrument is historically centered at Brock University’s Department of Psychology, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada.
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4. Purpose
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The primary purpose of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure is to provide a psychometrically validated, domain-specific, and dual-construct assessment instrument that captures nuanced public perceptions of cisgender women’s involvement in commercial erotic exchanges. Historically, empirical research addressing attitudes toward sex work has suffered from significant conceptual and methodological limitations. Earlier scales frequently treated \”prostitution\” as a monolithic, undifferentiated category, ignoring the vast heterogeneity of commercial sex markets—such as digital and mediated sexual entertainment (e.g., webcamming, content subscription platforms like OnlyFans), transactional dating or companionship arrangements (e.g., sugar dating), structured media production (e.g., adult pornography), and direct, physical commercial sex (e.g., street-based and indoor sex work). Consequently, previous instruments failed to capture how the public cognitively categorizes newer forms of mediated sex work compared to traditional, physical direct contact work.
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Furthermore, older measurement models routinely collapsed attitudes into a singular, bipolar \”favorable versus unfavorable\” continuum. This unidimensional architecture obscured a fundamental theoretical distinction within feminist, sociological, and legal discourse: the dynamic tension between empowerment and bodily self-determination versus structural exploitation and victimization. An individual may simultaneously perceive a specific sector of sex work as conferring financial autonomy (high agency) while also exposing the worker to substantial systemic danger or interpersonal exploitation (high harm). Unidimensional metrics force respondents into artificial compromises, masking the underlying cognitive architecture that governs public perception.
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Research and Clinical Applications
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The measure serves several essential functions across basic and applied empirical disciplines:
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- Social and Political Psychology: Enables precise investigations into how macro-level ideological variables—such as authoritarianism, ambivalent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996), moral purity foundations, and religiosity—differentially predict the perceived agency versus perceived harm of sex workers across varied media platforms.
- Public Policy and Legal Reform: Provides policy analysts and legislative researchers with empirical data regarding public support for distinct regulatory models (e.g., full criminalization, the Nordic/Equality model of client criminalization, legalization, or full decriminalization). By disaggregating perceptions into agency and harm, researchers can identify whether policy support is driven by paternalistic desires to \”rescue\” workers perceived as victimized or punitive desires to suppress workers perceived as exercising subversive sexual agency.
- Public Health and Healthcare Stigma: Offers public health researchers a validated diagnostic tool to evaluate societal stigma, healthcare provider biases, and community attitudes that impede sex workers’ access to clinical care, barrier methods, mental health resources, and safety protections.
- Criminology and Victimology: Facilitates empirical studies on the \”worthy victim\” trope, juror decision-making, and law enforcement attitudes toward crimes committed against sex workers, clarifying how perceived agency or perceived vulnerability shapes blame attribution and legal protection.
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5. Psychological Construct
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The conceptual framework of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure is defined by an orthogonal 2 × 4 matrix representing two higher-order evaluative dimensions (Agency and Harm) assessed across four distinct socio-behavioral domains of commercial sex (Webcamming, Sugar Relationships, Prostitution, and Pornography).
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The Agency Dimension
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Within this measurement model, Agency is operationalized as the extent to which a cisgender woman’s engagement in commercial sex is perceived as an expression of personal choice, intentionality, empowerment, financial self-sufficiency, and psychological autonomy. Rooted in the psychological construct of personal agency (Bandura, 2001; Ryan & Deci, 2000), high scores on the Agency dimension reflect an endorsement of the worker as an active, self-governing economic and sexual subject rather than an unwitting victim or passive object. Specifically, this dimension captures beliefs that:
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- Participation provides financial independence and entrepreneurial control.
- Engagement enhances feelings of personal empowerment, self-worth, and bodily confidence.
- The decision to enter and participate in the sector reflects calculated, autonomous self-determination.
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For example, in the context of digital webcamming, a respondent high in perceived agency views the performer as a self-employed content creator who curates her boundaries, controls her labor conditions, and leverages technology for economic mobility.
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The Harm Dimension
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Conversely, Harm is operationalized as the extent to which participation in commercial sex is perceived as inherently exploitative, dangerous, degrading, psychologically traumatizing, or driven by structural coercion. Drawing from trauma psychology, structural violence models, and feminist critique (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; MacKinnon, 1989), the Harm dimension evaluates the perceived negative physical, emotional, and social consequences visited upon women in sex work. Specifically, this construct captures beliefs that:
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- The work places women in severe physical peril, violence, or abuse.
- The labor environment is fundamentally coercive, manipulative, and economically predatory.
- Involvement inflicts lasting psychological damage, loss of dignity, emotional distress, or social ostracism.
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For instance, in evaluating direct prostitution, an observer endorsing high levels of harm perceives the worker as exposed to non-consensual violence, sexually transmitted infections, predation by buyers or managers, and extreme societal marginalization.
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The Four Target Domains
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The scale systematically measures Agency and Harm across four concrete, distinct manifestations of sex work:
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- Webcamming: Live-streamed, computer-mediated sexual or erotic performances wherein the worker interacts digitally with paying viewers without physical contact. This domain represents low-physical-contact, digitally mediated labor with perceived high boundary regulation.
- Sugar Relationships: Companionship- or intimacy-based arrangements between an individual (frequently younger, referred to as a \”sugar baby\”) and a wealthier benefactor (a \”sugar daddy\” or \”sugar mommy\”) in exchange for financial support, tuition, gifts, or lifestyle allowances. This domain occupies an ambiguous boundary between romantic dating and commercial sexual exchange.
- Prostitution: Explicit, direct physical contact exchanges wherein sexual services are traded directly for cash or commodities, encompassing both outdoor (street-based) and indoor (brothels, escorting) modalities. This domain represents the historically canonical and most heavily criminalized form of sex work.
- Pornography: Recorded visual depictions of explicit sexual acts produced for commercial distribution, broadcast, or commercial sale. This domain represents industrialized, third-party mediated, or self-published visual media production.
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6. Theoretical Framework
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The construction and validation of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure are situated at the nexus of several prominent theoretical paradigms within social psychology, feminist theory, and moral philosophy.
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Feminist Dialectics: Abolitionism vs. Sex-Positivity
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For decades, feminist scholarly discourse regarding commercial sex has been defined by a deep ideological schism known historically as the \”Feminist Sex Wars\” (Rubin, 1984; Vance, 1984). On one side, Radical/Abolitionist Feminism (advanced by theorists such as Catharine MacKinnon, Andrea Dworkin, and Sheila Jeffreys) posits that commercial sex is an intrinsic manifestation of patriarchal subordination, male dominance, and systemic violence against women. From this vantage point, true consent cannot exist under conditions of structural gender inequality; hence, all sex work is viewed as fundamentally exploitative, objectifying, and harmful, rendering the concept of \”empowered sex work\” a false consciousness.
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Conversely, Sex-Positive, Intersectional, and Labor Feminism (championed by theorists such as Gayle Rubin, Carol Leigh, and Laura Agustín) conceptualizes sex work as legitimate erotic labor. Proponents assert that women possess bodily autonomy and the right to deploy their sexuality economically. Within this framework, stigma, criminalization, and labor exploitation—rather than the sexual act itself—are the true sources of harm. By incorporating independent Agency and Harm axes, the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure translates this theoretical debate into a quantifiable psychometric model, allowing researchers to examine how individual citizens navigate these competing paradigms.
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Ambivalent Sexism Theory
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The scale directly interfaces with Ambivalent Sexism Theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996, 2001), which differentiates between Hostile Sexism (antagonistic, overtly derogatory attitudes toward women who challenge traditional gender roles or exhibit non-conforming sexual behavior) and Benevolent Sexism (subjectively positive, paternalistic attitudes that idealize women as pure, fragile beings requiring male protection). Sex workers represent a direct violation of traditional patriarchal purity norms. Puffer, Hodson, and Prusaczyk (2024) utilized their measure to explore whether hostile sexists denigrate sex workers by denying their agency and exaggerating their immorality, or whether benevolent sexists exhibit paternalistic harm attributions, perceiving women in sex work as helpless victims needing \”rescue\” from male degradation.
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Objectification and Moral Foundations Theories
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The measure also draws upon Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), which describes how cultural practices treat female bodies as instruments for the sexual pleasure of others. The Harm dimension operationalizes the psychological distress and interpersonal vulnerability associated with being treated as an interchangeable sexual object. Additionally, Moral Foundations Theory (Graham et al., 2013)—specifically the Sanctity/Degradation and Harm/Care foundations—explains how moral intuition shapes attitudes. Individuals who anchor their moral worldview in bodily purity tend to view commercial sex as inherently degrading (elevating harm ratings), whereas those who prioritize individual liberty and harm minimization evaluate sex work based on actual occupational conditions and voluntary consent.
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7. Validity
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The validation of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure involved comprehensive psychometric evaluations across multiple indices of construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024).
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Construct and Factorial Validity
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Construct validity was established through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted separately for each of the four domains. In all four sectors (webcamming, sugar relationships, prostitution, and pornography), the analyses confirmed an invariant two-factor configuration (Agency and Harm). Items constructed to tap empowerment, autonomy, and financial benefit loaded strongly onto the Agency factor, while items tapping exploitation, physical peril, and emotional distress loaded cleanly onto the Harm factor. Cross-loadings across the two factors were minimal, demonstrating that respondents clearly distinguish between the potential for empowerment and the presence of victimization within each specific labor context.
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Convergent and Criterion Validity
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Convergent validity was examined by correlating the Agency and Harm subscales with theoretically linked sociopolitical and psychological constructs:
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- Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO): RWA and SDO were significantly and positively correlated with Harm attributions across domains, and negatively correlated with Agency attributions. Individuals with rigid conventionalist and authoritarian values were substantially more likely to perceive all sex work as universally damaging, denying the possibility of female autonomy in sexual commerce.
- Ambivalent Sexism: Hostile Sexism was negatively associated with Agency perceptions, particularly in traditional prostitution and pornography. Benevolent Sexism, characterized by paternalistic protective impulses, correlated positively with Harm ratings across all domains, supporting the theoretical expectation that benevolent sexists perceive women in sex markets as inherently victimized and morally fragile.
- Religiosity and Moral Purity: Higher personal religiosity and endorsement of moral purity foundations demonstrated robust positive associations with Harm ratings and negative associations with Agency ratings. Respondents endorsing high sanctity foundations viewed commercial sex as intrinsically corruptive, regardless of whether it occurred online (webcamming) or offline (prostitution).
- Attitudes Toward Erotica and Sexual Openness: General sociosexual permissiveness and favorable attitudes toward erotica demonstrated strong positive correlations with Agency ratings, specifically for webcamming and pornography, confirming that individuals with sex-positive worldviews recognize erotic labor as an exercise of legitimate bodily autonomy.
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Discriminant Validity
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Discriminant validity between the domains was demonstrated through significant within-subject differences across sectors. Participants consistently ascribed higher Agency and lower Harm to technologically mediated or non-physical contact modalities (webcamming) relative to direct, physical contact sex work (prostitution). Sugar relationships demonstrated a distinct evaluative profile, loading moderately on agency while reflecting lower harm ratings than direct prostitution. These domain-specific variations confirm that the scale does not merely assess a generalized halo effect or uniform moral bias, but accurately captures domain-specific cognitive appraisals of risk and self-determination.
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8. Reliability
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The reliability of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure was evaluated using internal consistency metrics across the four operational domains in a large sample of adult U.S. participants (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024). The scale exhibits high to excellent internal reliability across all subscales, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients exceeding conventional psychometric thresholds (i.e., α ≥ .70 for research instruments, α ≥ .80 for robust psychological scales).
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Internal Consistency Coefficients
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| Domain | Agency Subscale (α) | Harm Subscale (α) | Items per Domain |
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| Webcamming | .90 | .86 | 6 (3 Agency, 3 Harm) |
| Pornography | .89 | .89 | 6 (3 Agency, 3 Harm) |
| Prostitution | .89 | .87 | 6 (3 Agency, 3 Harm) |
| Sugar Relationships | .78 | .85 | 6 (3 Agency, 3 Harm) |
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Measurement Precision and Standard Error
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The standard error of measurement (SEM) across all subscales remains minimal, reflecting tight item clustering and high shared variance within each factor. The slightly lower alpha coefficient observed for the Sugar Relationships Agency subscale (α = .78) is theoretically consistent with the psychological and cultural ambiguity surrounding \”sugaring,\” wherein public perceptions vacillate between viewing it as an informal dating relationship, romantic companionship, or direct financial transaction. For the remaining three domains, alpha coefficients approached or matched .90, demonstrating exceptional item cohesion and high measurement fidelity.
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9. Factor Analysis
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The latent structural architecture of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure was empirically established using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024). Analyses were executed independently on each 6-item domain set to ascertain whether the dual constructs of Agency and Harm operated consistently across varied manifestations of sexual commerce.
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Factor Extraction and Rotation Criteria
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Factor extraction was conducted using principal axis factoring and maximum likelihood estimation, supplemented by oblique rotation techniques (Promax and Direct Oblimin) to permit theoretical inter-factor correlations between Agency and Harm. Factor retention was determined via Kaiser’s criterion (eigenvalues > 1.0), inspection of Cattell’s scree plots, and parallel analysis. Across all four domains, scree tests and eigenvalues clearly converged on a two-factor solution, accounting for a substantial proportion of total variance (typically exceeding 60% across models).
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Factor Loading Architecture
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- Factor 1: Perceived Agency. In each domain, the three items assessing empowerment, self-worth/confidence, and financial benefit loaded heavily onto this factor (loadings typically ranging from .65 to .91). Secondary cross-loadings onto the Harm factor were uniformly low (< .20).
- Factor 2: Perceived Harm. In each domain, the three items capturing exploitation, physical danger, and lasting emotional/social damage loaded strongly onto this factor (loadings typically ranging from .62 to .90), exhibiting minimal cross-loadings onto the Agency factor.
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Inter-Factor Correlations
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Correlations between the Agency and Harm factors within each domain were moderate and negative (generally ranging between r = -.30 and r = -.55). This moderate inverse association confirms that while Agency and Harm are inversely related in public consciousness, they do not represent opposite poles of a single unidimensional continuum. Rather, they represent distinct, non-mutually exclusive cognitive evaluative dimensions, empirically validating the necessity of a two-factor assessment model.
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10. Instrument / Measurement Tool
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The operational administration of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure is structured as follows:
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- Instrument Type: Standardized self-report multidimensional psychometric questionnaire / attitudinal inventory.
- Format: Electronic or paper-and-pencil administration; optimized for online survey software (e.g., Qualtrics, REDCap).
- Item Count: 24 total items (6 items per domain: 3 Agency items, 3 Harm items).
- Domain Structure: Four independent domains evaluated in modular blocks:\n
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- Domain 1: Webcamming (6 items)
- Domain 2: Sugar Relationships (6 items)
- Domain 3: Prostitution (6 items)
- Domain 4: Pornography (6 items)
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- Pre-Testing Vignettes / Instructional Definitions: Prior to answering items for each domain, respondents read brief, standardized descriptive paragraphs that define the specific modality (clarifying the nature of the labor, technology involved, physical contact parameters, and economic compensation) to eliminate idiosyncratic participant misinterpretations.
- Response Scale: 7-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = extremely).
- Scoring Rules:\n
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- Subscale Scores: Calculated by averaging the 3 relevant items for each factor within each domain (e.g., Webcamming Agency Mean = Sum of 3 Webcamming Agency items / 3; Webcamming Harm Mean = Sum of 3 Webcamming Harm items / 3).
- Composite Domain Scores: Researchers may examine domain-specific scores independently or compute an overall Mean Agency Score (average of all 12 Agency items) and overall Mean Harm Score (average of all 12 Harm items) across all four domains.
- Reverse Coding: None. Items are directly phrased to reflect either Agency or Harm to preserve semantic clarity and factorial purity.
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- Administration Time: Approximately 8 to 12 minutes for the complete 24-item battery including introductory definitions.
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11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year
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The Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure was developed and published in 2024:
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- Publication Year: 2024 (published online 2023; printed in volume 53, issue 3, 2024).
- Copyright and Governance: The scale is copyrighted by the authors (Hanna Puffer, Gordon Hodson, and Elvira Prusaczyk) and Springer Nature (Archives of Sexual Behavior).
- Permissions and Academic Use: The scale is intended for academic research, non-commercial education, and scientific investigation. Researchers wishing to employ the instrument in empirical studies should consult the original publication (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024) and appropriately cite the source. For commercial applications, wide-scale diagnostic deployment, or inclusion in proprietary test batteries, permission must be formally requested from the corresponding authors and the publisher.
- Cost / Fee: The measure is free to access and administer for academic and non-commercial research purposes within institutional boundaries.
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12. References
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- Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
- Benoit, C., Jansson, S. M., Smith, M., & Flagg, J. (2018). Prostitution stigma and its effect on the working conditions, personal lives, and health of sex workers. The Journal of Sex Research, 55(4–5), 457–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1393652
- Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
- Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
- Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (2001). An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56(2), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.2.109
- Graham, J., Haidt, J., Koleva, S., Motyl, M., Iyer, R., Wojcik, S. P., & Ditto, P. H. (2013). Moral foundations theory: The pragmatic validity of moral pluralism. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 55–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00002-4
- MacKinnon, C. A. (1989). Toward a feminist theory of the state. Harvard University Press.
- Puffer, H., Hodson, G., & Prusaczyk, E. (2024). Attitudes toward cisgender women’s participation in sex work: Opportunity for agency or harmful exchange? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53(3), 1169–1185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02797-y
- Rubin, G. (1984). Thinking sex: Notes for a radical theory of the politics of sexuality. In C. S. Vance (Ed.), Pleasure and danger: Exploring female sexuality (pp. 267–319). Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
- Sanders, T. (2005). Sex work: A risky business. Willan Publishing.
- Vance, C. S. (Ed.). (1984). Pleasure and danger: Exploring female sexuality. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Weitzer, R. (2009). Sociology of sex work. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120025
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13. Items of the Scale
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The official, complete 24-item battery and descriptive domain vignettes of the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure are proprietary and copyrighted by the authors (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024) and Springer Nature (*Archives of Sexual Behavior*). The exact, verbatim standardized scale items are not published into the open public domain.
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To administer this scale for academic, clinical, or institutional research, please consult the original publication in the Archives of Sexual Behavior or contact the primary author directly to obtain the authorized standardized battery, contextual vignettes, and scoring templates.
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Operational Structure and Response Anchors
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The measure presents participants with four sequential sections corresponding to the distinct domains of commercial sex. Each section begins with an objective descriptive vignette defining the domain, followed by 6 evaluative statements: 3 tapping Agency and 3 tapping Harm.
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Response Scale: All items are evaluated using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = extremely):
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- 1 = Not at all
- 2 = Very slightly
- 3 = Slightly
- 4 = Moderately
- 5 = Considerably
- 6 = Very much
- 7 = Extremely
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Subscale Factor Specifications Across Domains
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Domain A: Webcamming
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(Live-streamed online adult entertainment and remote erotic interaction without in-person physical contact)
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- Agency Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which webcamming is perceived as empowering, financially advantageous, and an autonomous exercise of personal confidence and control.
- Harm Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which webcamming is perceived as exploitative, psychologically damaging, and socially or personally degrading.
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Domain B: Sugar Relationships
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(Mutually negotiated arrangements involving companionship and intimacy in exchange for financial support, gifts, or mentorship)
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- Agency Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which engaging in sugar relationships is seen as a strategic, empowering choice providing independence and material advancement.
- Harm Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which sugar dating is seen as manipulative, inherently coercive, and putting women at risk of exploitation.
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Domain C: Prostitution
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(Direct, physical commercial exchange of sexual contact for money or material goods, including indoor and outdoor labor)
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- Agency Factor (3 items): Measures the extent to which direct physical sex work is perceived as a legitimate, self-directed occupational choice that offers economic agency.
- Harm Factor (3 items): Measures the extent to which direct prostitution is perceived as dangerous, putting women in severe physical peril, and causing severe psychological harm.
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Domain D: Pornography
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(Production and visual recording of explicit sexual activities for commercial mass media or independent subscription distribution)
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- Agency Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which performing in pornography is viewed as sexually liberating, empowering, and financially rewarding.
- Harm Factor (3 items): Measures the degree to which pornography performance is viewed as degrading, exploitative, and subjecting women to lasting social and emotional injury.
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“,n “excerpt”: “The Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure (Puffer, Hodson, & Prusaczyk, 2024) is a 24-item psychometric instrument assessing public perceptions of cisgender women’s involvement in sex work across four domains: webcamming, sugar relationships, prostitution, and pornography, differentiated by agency and harm.”,n “slug”: “attitudes-toward-sex-work-measure”,n “categories”: [n “Psychometrics”,n “Social Psychology”,n “Gender Studies”,n “Human Sexuality”n ],n “tags”: [n “Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure”,n “sex work”,n “erotic labor”,n “agency”,n “harm”,n “webcamming”,n “sugar relationships”,n “pornography”,n “prostitution”,n “psychometric scale”n ],n “seo_title”: “Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure: Agency and Harm Dimensions”,n “seo_description”: “Explore the Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure (Puffer et al., 2024), assessing perceptions of agency and harm across webcamming, prostitution, porn, and sugar dating.”,n “focus_keyword”: “Attitudes Toward Sex Work Measure”n}