Effects of online sexual explicitness on adolescents sexual attitudes and sexual self

Because sexually explicit material on the Internet is easily and anonymously accessible, there has been much public speculation about the effects of such material on adolescents. Social science, however, has little to offer to put these speculations into perspective. The proposed project tries to fill this research gap by studying (a) how and why adolescents use online sexually explicit material and (b) which effects such material has on adolescents sexual attitudes and their sexual self. The project will be based on several pilot studies and a subsequent two-wave panel survey with adolescents. Both in terms of research ethics and internal validity, this approach meets what researchers have been requesting for years. The proposed project is theoretically innovative for several reasons. Previous research on the consequences of sexually explicit material on adults has often employed a simplistic, stimulus-response based model of observational learning. The proposed project, by contrast, draws on Banduras Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and, thereby, on humans self-regulatory, self-reflective, and forethought capabilities as important mediators and moderators of potential effects of sexually explicit material on adolescents. In its interdisciplinary orientation, the project links SCT with communication scientific theories of media use, thus not only extending traditional theories of media use, but also offering explanations of the development of media use. The project also brings together concepts from SCT and media effects research. It tries to move beyond the theoretical patchwork typical of sex research and attempts to coherently re-conceptualize our understanding of media effects on adolescents. The social relevance of the project lies in its important implications for public discourse, parental decisions about Internet access for children, and policy considerations.