Terminology Shapes Public Perception of Sex-Industry Professionals, New Study Finds

The *Journal of Sex Research* published a U.S. survey (N = 386 after attention checks) that assigned each participant one label—sex worker, escort, prostitute, or hooker—to assess terminology effects. The study was led by Sarah M. Lindley (University of Michigan Medical School) with co-author Kayla A. Burd (University of Wyoming). Lindley noted the scarcity of research on language effects. Advocates promote “sex worker” to stress labor.

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Participants estimated the Black share of the U.S. population at 29 % but guessed 33-37 % for sex-industry workers. They also saw fewer men and fewer heterosexual individuals in the industry than in the general population. “Promiscuous” and “sexually perverse” were most common. “Sex worker” and “escort” earned higher competence and economic ratings, whereas “prostitute” and “hooker” attracted negative descriptors such as “poorly educated,” “insincere,” and “victims.” Statistical models showed “sex worker” produced higher scores than the other terms, even after adjusting for age, gender, and political orientation.

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Lindley emphasized that terminology shapes public perception of industry workers and described the work as exploratory. Burd is collecting mock-jury data to assess legal consequences of label choice. The predefined adjective list may miss nuance, and a cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, limiting conclusions about stigma mechanisms. The study also highlights a gap in quantitative research on public perceptions of sex-industry terminology, especially regarding race.

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Authors note limited adjectives and cross-sectional design limit causality.

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The team plans to embed race and ethnicity variables in a mock-jury experiment to clarify how label choice shapes legal outcomes and to inform policy recommendations for media guidelines and legislative language concerning sex-industry professionals.

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• “This research is quite personal to me, actually. I spent years doing volunteer work for a non-profit aimed at providing support and care for sex workers (shout out to The Cupcake Girls),” — Sarah Lindley, lead statistician, University of Michigan Medical School

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• “I would say that overall, terminology, especially in the case of sex workers, has important connotations and a single word can sculpt the way we think about people in the industry.” — Sarah M. Lindley, lead statistician, University of Michigan Medical School

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• “We looked at the interaction of the perceived proportion of the Black demographic within each term, and found that people were less likely to view the term hooker positively (compared to sex worker) if they believed the proportion of ‘hookers’ that are Black was high,” — Sarah M. Lindley, lead statistician, University of Michigan Medical School

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• “Our analysis was primarily exploratory, especially given the lack of quantitative research in the area, and is meant to be descriptive and give evidence for testable hypotheses in the future,” — Sarah M. Lindley, lead statistician, University of Michigan Medical School

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