COMMENTS: Could indicate escalation. This longitudinal study reported greater “exposure” to affection-themed Internet pornography for younger adolescents and more exposure to dominance-themed pornography for older adolescents.
Volume 50, September 2015, Pages 439–448
Highlights
- A longitudinal study among 1577 Dutch adolescents was conducted.
- Age negatively predicted exposure to affection-themed sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM).
- Age and academic status positively predicted exposure to dominance-themed SEIM.
- Hyper gender identity positively predicted exposure to violence-themed SEIM.
Abstract
Communication scholars have repeatedly highlighted the importance of studying the type of content that media users are exposed to. However, although adolescents use sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) frequently, we know little about which specific types of SEIM they are exposed to. Moreover, knowledge is lacking about the antecedents of exposure to different types of SEIM and whether these antecedents differ between boys and girls. The present two-wave panel survey among 1557 Dutch adolescents addressed these lacunae by studying exposure to affection-themed, dominance-themed and violence-themed SEIM. Younger adolescents were more often exposed to affection-themed SEIM, while older adolescents and adolescents with higher levels of academic achievement were more frequently exposed to dominance-themed SEIM. Hyper masculine boys and hyper feminine girls were more frequently exposed to violence-themed SEIM.
Keywords
- Sexually explicit Internet material;
- Adolescents;
- Media exposure;
- Gender
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