ORIGINAL ARTICLE College Women’ s Attitudes Toward Sex Workers Shelley L. Long & Debra Mollen & Nathan Grant Smith Published online: 19 November 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract A growing number of women are entering the sex industry as a means of funding their education (Reilly 2008). Many people view sex workers in stereotyped ways, and may discriminate and oppress women who work in the sex industry (Wolffers and van Beelen 2003). This investigation assessed attitudes toward sex work. Two hundred sixty-six women from a primarily woman’s university located in the Southwestern region of the U.S. completed selected items from the Attitudes Toward Prostitution Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and Hostility Toward Women Scale. Results indicated that participants who knew a sex worker had less stereotypical attitudes toward sex workers. However, participants with higher levels of social desirability and hostility toward women had more stereotypical attitudes toward sex workers. Keywords Sex work . Attitudes . Psychology . College women students Introduction Prostitution, often labeled the world’ s oldest profession, is a global phenomenon that has existed for millennia, despite the persistent lack of public approval (Scruton 2006). From ancient literature (Ellis 1910; Hutchinson 1897) to Biblical references (Leviticus 19:29), the selling of sexual services, particularly by women for money or other goods, has been well-documented (Ringdal and Agustin 2008; Sanger 1913) and highly debated (Benjamin and Masters 1964; Overall 1992; Weatherall and Priestley 2001; Withers 1975). Research suggests that sex workers are often viewed as being associated with sexually transmitted infections (D’Emilio and Freedman 1988; Faugier and Sargeant 1997), criminal activity (i.e., drug use; Young et al. 2000), and physical unattractiveness (Ruys et al. 2008). The current study examined U.S. college women’ s attitudes toward sex workers. The research cited was conducted within the U.S., unless otherwise noted. Concurrent with the debate surrounding the sex work industry, there is a growing amount of international scholarship regarding the increase of Australian, Russian, and British female university students seeking alternative means of employment in response to the increasing costs of tuition and fees, and the reduction of government financial support (Lantz 2005; MacWilliams 2002; Roberts et al. 1999). Research conducted in Scotland indicates that traditional means of employment typically consist of long hours and low wages, often failing to adequately compensate for tuition alone, not to mention living expenses (Chapman 2001). For this reason, some students are now resorting to legal or illegal jobs that require fewer hours and offer considerably higher wages, allowing them more time for classes and studying as well as the ability to support themselves financially (Chapman 2001). For many women, these factors make entering the sex work industry a viable option to ensure adequate financial means to fund their higher education (Lantz 2005; MacWilliams 2002; Roberts et al. 2007; Roberts et al. 1999). With the recent rise in student sex workers, further research is needed to identify resources available to sex S. L. Long (*) Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298730, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA e-mail: s.long@tcu.edu D. Mollen Texas Woman’ s University, Denton, TX, USA N. G. Smith McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Sex Roles (2012) 66:117–127 DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0088-0