Contributions of entertainment television to adolescents' sexual attitudesand expectations: The role of viewing amount versus viewer involvement

This project examines several ways in which television viewing might relate to adolescents' sexual attitudes and expectations. Although previous findi ngs have indicated significant associations between viewing amounts and var ious sexual outcomes, contributions of viewer involvement in this equation have been underemphasized. Drawing on the premises of several theoretical a pproaches viewer involvement was defined to include viewing motivation, act ive viewing, perceived realism, perceived relevance, and identification. As sociations were then examined between eight dimensions of TV viewing and se ven sexual outcome variables for a multiethnic sample of 314 students aged 18-20. Both viewing amount and viewer involvement emerged as significant co rrelates of participants' sexual attitudes, expectations, and behavior: In particular; greater exposure and greater involvement with TV's sexual conte nt were associated with stronger endorsement of recreational attitudes towa rd sex, higher expectations of the sexual activity of one's peers, and more extensive sexual experience. When all the viewing factors were tested toge ther; viewer involvement emerged as a more consistent predictor of the sexu al outcomes examined, and these associations were stronger among females th an among males.