Beehive State Abuzz in Pornography . . .

Apparently the practise of polygamy isn't the only sexual anomaly in the Beehive State of Utah. The fine residents rank at the top of online porn consumers.

Per The Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah is No. 1 - for online pornography consumption
By Dawn House | The Salt Lake Tribune | 03/03/2009

Besides its political bent, Utah's per capita appetite for online pornography makes it the nation's run-away red-light state.

A study by a Harvard Business School professor shows that Utah outpaces the more conservative states -- which all tend to purchase more Internet porn than other states.

Online porn subscription rates are higher in states that enacted conservative legislation banning same-sex marriage or civil unions and where surveys show support for conservative positions on religion, gender roles and sexuality, according to an analysis published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

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Utah's No. 1 score may have to do with its demographics, said the author of the study, Benjamin Edelman.

For instance, Internet porn subscriptions are particularly widespread in states with young populations, in the 15 to 24 age group, while people over 65 are less likely to subscribe. Income can be a another factor, with each $1,000 increase in average household income pushing up the number of subscribers. Rates also go up with a college education and among people who are divorced, although marriage and graduate degrees have the opposite effect.

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Although Utah is headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Edelman found that regions where people regularly attend religious services are not statistically different from their counterparts in more secular regions. But users who do attend religious services tend to shift their adult entertainment sessions to other days of the week than the day of services.

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Daniel Weis, spokesman for the Colorado-based Christian group, Focus on The Family, said the study "is credible only for what it is studying, which is very little."

"My caution is that people do not extrapolate that this is a report for the entire nation," said. "The fact that conservative-minded people are fighting porn doesn't mean that they go home and look at it."

The Focus on The Family spokesman was also quoted as saying "There is a Santa Claus and a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow."

OK, OK, that last line I made up.

But is it really that much of a stretch ? ? ? ?

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)