By Erika Icon

YNOT – A new study confirms something female adult performers have known all along: Psychologically, porn stars are as healthy as or healthier than other women. Despite what outsiders believe about rampant abuse and exploitation of women in the adult entertainment industry, the study indicated starlets possess higher self-esteem, a better quality of life and a better opinion of their body image. In addition, on the whole they’re more positive, more sexually satisfied and — get this — more spiritual.

Not surprisingly, they also have had more sexual partners than their civilian counterparts.

Published in the Journal of Sex Research, the study was conducted by researchers at Shippensburg University, Texas Woman’s University and the now-defunct Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation. Researchers found no evidence to support common myths: that female performers are damaged goods, come from desperate backgrounds or are less mentally balanced than typical women.

“Some descriptions of actresses in pornography have included attributes such as drug addiction, homelessness, poverty, desperation and being victims of sexual abuse,” the journal article noted. “Some [outside the adult entertainment industry] have made extreme assertions, such as claiming that all women in pornography were sexually abused as children. Stereotypes of those involved in adult entertainment have been used to support or condemn the industry and to justify political views on pornography, although the actual characteristics of actresses are unknown because no study on this group of women has been conducted.”

Psychologists conducting the study interviewed 177 adult-entertainment actresses who had performed in at least one X-rated movie and were between the ages of 18 and 50. The average subject’s career spanned 3.5 years. More than one-third of the women were married or in a serious relationship, while 44 percent were single.

Another curious result emerged from the survey: Female performers slept better and had more energy than their non-professional peers. Almost 70 percent of performers enjoyed their sex life, while only 30 percent of other women reported satisfaction in that area. The age at which porn stars had sex for the first time was about 15, or two years earlier than other women.

Of course, not all the results of the survey were positive. Sex industry workers were more likely to use drugs and alcohol, which the study linked to “sensation-seeking personalities” of the women studied.

“This study really challenges views about women who engage in sex work and the porn industry,” said Cynthia Graham, a senior lecturer in health psychology at Southampton University. “Although the study had limitations, it is one of very few that has included matched controls.”

Feminist commentator Dawn Foster criticized the study.

“It is dangerous to generalize about a huge industry,” she said. “Women who are successful and in control of their careers in one pocket don’t speak for women in the less-scrutinized parts. The study’s main objective seems to be to prove that not all women in porn are exploited. No one has argued that. But glossing over the exploitative aspects helps no one.”