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explicit material
6
The Research Base on the Impact of
Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material:
What Theory and Empirical Studies Offer
The empirical research base for understanding the impact of sexually
explicit material on children (discussed in Section 6.2) is not extensive, for
reasons described in Box 6.1. Thus, reliable information in this domain is
hard to obtain, and in the absence of reliable information, controversy
abounds (as discussed in Chapter 7~. Material in this chapter is derived
largely from the Kaiser Family Foundation report, Measuring the Effects of
Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998.
6.1 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
A number of psychological theories suggest some of the impact that
media exposure might have on young people. These theories sometimes
conflict, and so theoretical predictions regarding the developmental im-
pact of exposure to sexually explicit material are not always consistent
with one another. It is also possible that more than one theory may be
valid or useful in understanding psychological phenomena. Furthermore,
the impact of such exposure will depend on the individual, the context in
which the exposure occurs, and the social structure in which the young
person is engaged, as well as other factors.
1Aletha C. Huston, Ellen Wartella, and Edward Donnerstein. 1998. Measuring the Effects
of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif. Available online at
44
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
It is important to note that young people are not passive recipients of
media contents They select what they watch and interpret material using
their own experiences and frames of reference. Thus, while some theories
may focus on how content may affect young people in general and can
suggest ways in which certain content can lead to positive or negative
outcomes, all theories acknowledge that this is an interactive process that
can yield many different outcomes depending on the person and the
2See, for example, Henry Jenkins, "Congressional Testimony on Media Violence," testi-
mony presented before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, Washington, D.C., May 4,
1999. Available online at .
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 145
situation.3 The following list describes several prominent theories that
conceptualize the underlying mechanisms through which media expo-
sure may affect young people. None of these theories suggest that view-
ing sexually explicit material will always have a particular outcome.
Rather, they imply that multiple factors, such as children's media use and
interpretation of material, affect (and greatly complicate the analysis of)
outcomes. These theories are considered in light of sexually explicit ma-
terial, though they are by no means limited to this type of content alone.
3Huston et al., 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
146
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
· Psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic theory4 predicts potentially
positive effects from exposure to sexually explicit material presented in
media. In psychoanalytic theory, two major drives are sex and aggres-
sion. These drives must be released in some way, and one path that
psychoanalytic theory develops for drive reduction is fantasy in the form
of catharsis. More specifically, in catharsis, sexual drives can be released
through fantasy experiences with sexual material, thereby reducing the
drive state.
· Arousal theory. Zillmann's arousal theory focuses primarily on the
immediate effects that sexually explicit material may have on behavior.5
Television content, for example, can produce emotional and physiological
arousal (i.e., activation of the nervous system as opposed to sexual
arousal), and increased levels of arousal are likely to produce some type
of behavior. However, Zillmann's theory does not imply what these
behavioral outcomes will be. Rather, arousal theory states that the per-
sonality of the viewer, the environmental circumstances, and one's frame
of reference for interpretation will determine the ensuing behavior.6 In
the context of Zillmann's theory, arousal is non-specific. Thus, other
factors will determine whether sexually explicit material will result in
behavior that is sexual, aggressive, or altruistic. In media research, auto-
nomic arousal, which is related to emotional experiences, is often the
~ ~ · . .
focus of 1nqulrles.
An adaptation of arousal theory has been used to understand the
possible implications of repeated exposure to sexually explicit material.
One possibility is that, in a similar fashion to desensitization to violent
material, a viewer continually exposed to sexually explicit material will
habituate to that type of content and become desensitized to it as well.
Becoming physiologically or emotionally aroused in the near future would
then require different material, perhaps more explicit depictions. An al-
ternative outcome is that a viewer who has habituated to material will
simply grow uninterested in it, an outcome mentioned by a number of
male students interviewed by the committee during site visits who as-
serted that they initially used the Internet to view adult-oriented Web
sites a great deal but that they soon became bored with such material.
Habituation does wear off, so a viewer might return to similar material
4Freudian theory is historically the foundation of psychoanalytic thought. see, for ex-
ample, Calvin s. Hall, 1954, A Primer of Freudian Psychology, The World Publishing com-
pany, New York and Scarborough, Ontario.
5D. Zillmann. 1982. ''Transfer of Excitation in Emotional Behavior,,, in Social Psychophysi-
ology, J.T. cacioppo and RE. Petty, eds., Guilford, New York.
6Huston et aL, 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 147
once this has occurred, or the viewer might not return to regularly view-
ing material because the viewer has lost interest.7
· Social learning theory. In Bandura's social learning theory,8 young
people can learn about sexuality from observing others depicted in the
media. Specifically, they may observe the mechanics of sexual behavior,
but they will also learn about the contexts in which behaviors occur, the
motives and intentions behind the interactions represented, and the con-
sequences for those participating in those behaviors. The messages im-
plicit in media portrayals of sexuality may be particularly powerful when
the participants are attractive, are shown as powerful, are rewarded in
some way for their actions, or represent characters with whom the young
person identifies. In this theory, the behavioral implications are not short-
term reactions; rather, this information is used when the young person
becomes engaged in a similar real-world sexual situation.
Social learning theory implies three major impacts on an observer: (1)
imitation, in which the observer copies a novel behavior that has been
seen before; (2) disinhibition, in which a behavior that was previously
inhibited is now acted on because there are no negative consequences for
the action; and (3) response facilitation, in which a socially desirable be-
havior increases in frequency as one observes another perform it. 9 Social
learning theory separates learning a behavior from performing it. That is,
knowledge about how to act in a certain way does not mean that one will
do so. Performance requires some form of reinforcement for action to
take place. Therefore, in contrast to cognitive approaches, social learning
theory is based on reinforcement and traditional learning theory ap-
proaches. For example, for a person to imitate a sexual behavior or to
have a sexual behavior disinhibited, there must be situational contingen-
cies and reinforcements to support the behavior that has been observed.
Over time, Bandura increasingly incorporated cognitive mechanisms
into his theory. Attention to information, retention of that knowledge,
production of the learned behavior, and the motivation to do so were
always key elements of his theory, but he added to it the concept of self-
efficacy, the belief that a person can control the events around him or her.
He reframed his theory as social cognitive theory to emphasize cognitive
elements, but the mechanistic element of reinforcement remained a key
facet of his approach.l°
7Sandra L. Calvert. 1999. Children's Journeys Through the Information Age. McGraw-Hill,
Boston.
8A. sandura. 1971. Social Learning Theory. General Learning Press, New York.
9Calvert, 1999, Children's Journeys Through the Information Age.
10Calvert, 1999, Children's Journeys Through the Information Age.
148
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
· Cognitive approaches: information processing theory. Information pro-
cessing theories are focused on cognitive constructs that develop as a func-
tion of experiences. Media provide one such venue for these experiences.
Based on experiences, children construct scripts (also known as schemes),
which are learned expectations that guide perception, memory, and infer-
ences. These scripts are used to predict how one is to act and how others
will act.l1 Stereotypes about sexual behavior are one type of sexual script.
Young children have very few sexual schemes, but as a growing rep-
ertoire of expectations develops, these schemes shape future perceptions,
memories, and interpretations. Both sexual content in the media and real
life experiences shape an individual's schema. As a result, sexual content
in the media may have a greater impact on individuals who do not have
real sexual experiences. Media that depict sexuality that is safe and posi-
tive may help to develop healthy sexual schemes, while content that is
permissive of sexual violence or other negative sexual encounters could
help to construct sexual schemes that are not beneficial for or may even
be harmful to the young person.l2
Theories on schemes and scripts for sexual interactions suggest that
any understanding of how the media shape this type of development
must include a careful analysis of the messages conveyed by the circum-
stances of sexual activity, as well as of the types of communication, nego-
tiation, and decision making that occur before, during, and after depic-
tions of sexuality. It also involves a close examination of the preexisting
schemes that the individual brings to the media situation.
· Cultivation theory. In the field of communications, Gerbner de-
scribes cultivation theory, a paradigm based on how media content inter-
faces with the person who is experiencing it.l3 Media messages that are
often depicted can shape the beliefs of viewers, a process that is not unlike
the development of schemes. For Gerbner, there are two main effects of
media exposure: (1) mainstreaming, in which dominant cultural mes-
sages come to be taken as true, even if they are not; and (2) resonance, in
which media messages that resonate with one's own experiences have a
very strong impact on the viewer. In this approach, heavy exposure to
sexual material in the media leads to a view of sexuality based on the
predominant media message. If that media message rings true with an
individual's own life, that message will be further enhanced.l4
11Huston et al., 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
Calvert, 1999, Children's Journeys Through the Information Age.
13G. Gerbner, 1966, "On Defining Communication: Still Another View," Journal of Com-
munication 16~2~: 99-103; G. Gerbner, 1972, "Communication and Social Environment," Sci-
entific American 227~3~: 152-160.
14Calvert, 1999, Children's Journeys Through the Information Age.
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 149
· Uses and gratification theory. In the field of communications, uses
and gratification theory emphasizes the reasons people have for viewing
and interacting with various media content. Essentially, individuals use
the media for various needs, including information, entertainment, com-
panionship, escapism, and exploration of various aspects of their own
sexuality.l5 From this perspective, knowing why a young person chooses
a particular type of media content is essential to understanding what the
impact of that content will be.
6.2 EMPIRICAL WORK
As noted above, there are few empirical studies on the impact of
sexually explicit media on young people. However, researchers have
been able to conduct empirical studies using media content other than
sexually explicit material research on violent material is one such ex-
ample. This is because our society has more permissive attitudes about
allowing young people to view violent material than about allowing them
to see sexually explicit material. For research purposes, a few studies of
sexually explicit material have used college-age viewers as a way of un-
derstanding the impact this material may have on children.l6 Note,
however, that a college student differs considerably in cognitive, phys-
ical, and social maturity compared with a primary- or middle-school
student.
6.2.1 Violence
Several correlations have been observed in studies of violent media
content and children: exposure to such content is correlated with desen-
sitization, increases in hostility, imitation and disinhibition, and fear and
anxiety responses. Desensitization (described in arousal theory) occurs
when an emotional response to a stimulus is diminished after repeated
exposure to that stimulus. This can be adaptive a doctor who becomes
accustomed to seeing blood and does not have the strong emotional re-
sponse he or she experienced in medical school can more effectively help
patients. The media, however, create fantasy exposures to content that
15Huston et al., 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
16E.I. Donnerstein and D.G. Linz, 1986, "Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male Viewers:
Current Theory and Research," American Behavioral Scientist 29~5~: 601-618; D. Zillmann and
J. Bryant, 1982, "Pornography, Sexual Callousness, and the Trivialization of Rape," Journal
of Communication 32~4~: 10-21; D. Zillman and J.B. Weaver, 1999, "Effects of Prolonged Ex-
posure to Gratuitous Media Violence on Provoked and Unprovoked Hostile Behavior,"
Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29~1~: 145-165.
150
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
can cause arousal and, over time, desensitization that is not necessarily
(and often not) adaptive. For example, a child who sees a graphic, violent
image might become angry or frightened. If this image is a representation
and not an actual event, then the typical reactions of "fight or flight" are
not appropriate or functional. With repeated exposure, the child may
cease to have these emotional responses.l7 Research has shown that de-
sensitization to media violence can result in reduced arousal and emo-
tional disturbance while witnessing actual violence, greater hesitancy to
call an adult to intervene in a witnessed physical altercation, and less
sympathy for victims of abuse and assault.
Emotional expressions of hostility, fear, and anxiety are also mea-
sured within arousal theory. Increases in hostility can correlate with
watching violent content in the media. In one study, college students
who watched violent films for 4 days were more likely to interfere with
another individual's future employment chances (an anti-social act).l9
Repeated viewing of violent material seemed to create an enduring hos-
tile mental framework that discouraged viewers from interacting posi-
tively with others, even those who had not provoked them.
Young people of a wide range of ages sometimes experience fear and
anxiety as a result of exposure to television.20 Results can range from
nightmares and temporary sleep disturbances to more lasting effects, such
as a fear of swimming in the ocean, after watching the movie Jaws.21 The
17Calvert, 1999, Children's Journeys Through the Information Age; J. Cantor, "Media Violence
and Children's Emotions: Beyond the 'Smoking Gun'," paper presented at the annual con-
vention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., October 5, 2001,
available online at .
18V.B. Cline, R.G. Croft, and S. Courrier, 1973, "Desensitization of Children to Television
Violence," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 27~3~: 516-546; F. Molitor and K.W.
Hirsch, 1994, "Children's Toleration of Real-Life Aggression After Exposure to Media Vio-
lence: A Replication of the Drabman and Thomas Studies," Child Study Journal 24~3~: 191-
207; and C.R. Mullin and D. Linz, 1995, "Desensitization and Resensitization to Violence
Against Women: Effects of Exposure to Sexually Violent Films on Judgments of Domestic
Violence Victims," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69~3~: 449459.
19D. Zillman and J.B. Weaver, 1999, "Effects of Prolonged Exposure to Gratuitous Media
Violence on Provoked and Unprovoked Hostile Behavior," Journal of Applied Social Psychol-
ogy 29(1): 145-165.
20J. Owens, R. Maxim, M. McGuinn, C. Nobile, M. Msall, and A. Alario, 1999, "Televi-
sion-Viewing Habits and Sleep Disturbance in School Children," Pediatrics 104~3~: 552 (Ab-
stract), available online at (May
25, 2001~; M.I. Singer, K. Slovak, T. Frierson, and P. York, 1998, "Viewing Preferences,
Symptoms of Psychological Trauma, and Violent Behaviors Among Children Who Watch
Television," Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 37~10~: 1041-
1048.
21K. Harrison and J. Cantor, 1999, "Tales from the Screen: Enduring Fright Reactions to
Scary Media," Media Psychology 1:117-140.
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 151
specific types of content that lead to fear will depend on the child's devel-
opmental level. For example, preschool-age children are most disturbed
by grotesque, visual images, such as monsters, whereas children in el-
ementary school are more likely to be frightened by realistic images in
which the danger they perceive could actually happen. Teenagers tend to
be more frightened by abstract components of a story. Data from studies
during the Persian Gulf conflict showed that elementary school children
became frightened by images of exploding missiles, whereas teen viewers
were more afraid of the idea that the conflict could spread. Material
frightening to a teenager may not even be processed by a younger child,
who may not understand the abstract concepts that are less readily
visualized.22
Social learning theory suggests that children learn through observa-
tion and modeling of behaviors and actions, and it is often used to explain
the phenomenon of children imitating what they see on television or in
films. There are numerous studies documenting a correlation between
media exposure to violence and children's aggressive behaviors. For in-
stance, a study in Israeli middle schools after the introduction of the World
Wrestling Federation to Israeli television documented the widespread
imitation of acts demonstrated on this show that resulted in numerous
playground injuries,23 and a juvenile was recently tried and convicted for
homicide against a small girl in what the juvenile claimed was an imita-
tion of professional wrestling moves.24
It is unknown if responses to media violence are cumulative (e.g.,
attitudinal changes resulting from repeat exposure) or instantaneous (e.g.,
fear responses due to seeing the "wrong" movie at the "wrong" develop-
mental moment), if they are temporary or lasting (e.g., a few nightmares
or a lasting fear of specific animals or situations), how the impact of
exposure to media violence varies with the kinds of violence being seen,
and how the context of viewing violence (e.g., news reports vs. "slasher"
movies) may have differential effects on children. Furthermore, addi-
tional research is needed before extrapolating results from this research
22J. Cantor, 1998, ~Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We
Can Do to Protect Them, Harcourt Brace, San Diego, Calif.; J. Cantor, M.L. Mares, and M.B.
Oliver, 1993, "Parents' and Children's Emotional Reactions to Televised Coverage of the
Gulf War," pp. 325-340 in Desert Storm and the Mass Media, B. Greenberg and W. Gantz,
eds., Hampton Press, Cresskill, N.J.
23Donnerstein and Linz, 1986, "Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male Viewers: Current
Theory and Research"; Zillman, 1982, "Transfer of Excitation in Emotional Behavior"; D.
Lemish, 1997, "The School as a Wrestling Arena: The Modeling of a Television Series,"
Communication 22~4~: 395418.
24"Boy Gets Life for 'Wrestle' Killing," St. Petersburg Times, March 10, 2001. Available
online at .
52
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
on violent material to sexually explicit material,
although research on
violence may be relevant to sexually violent content.
6.2.2 Sexually Violent Material
Research on Me effects of viewing sexually violent images has focused
on college-age viewers. Effects observed in these studies were similar to
effects seen in studies on violence without sexual content. Studies of young
adults (aged 18 to 20) watching an hour of the equivalent of an it-rated film
containing sexual violence have demonstrated desensitization effects im-
mediately after viewing. Levels of physiological arousal decreased win
additional viewing after the first hour. Furthermore, viewers shown a
documentary on battered women after an hour of watching a sexually
violent film demonstrated less empathy toward Me victims, and gave lower
evaluations of how injured Me woman was and how painful the experience
may have been. Attitudinal changes have also been observed, with bow
men and women more likely to display callous attitudes toward female
victims, such as stating Mat a rape was Me fault of Me victim or Mat she
brought it on herself.25 Women viewers do have slightly different responses
from men, and although bow show desensitization, women also tend to
experience an increase in fear after watching sexually violent content,26 in
large part because hey are likely to be the victims of rape.
Although changes in attitude and arousal levels were measured in
these studies, it is not clear to what extent these changes may be lasting.
For example, normal arousal responses tend to return after 24 hours, and
the "long-term" changes in attitudes are based on studies that follow
subjects for only a few weeks after viewing the material.27
Zillmann's arousal theory suggests that sexually explicit content does
not lead to any specific or consistent behavioral outcome in viewers. A1-
though sexually explicit content may produce emotional or physiological
arousal, behavioral outcomes which might include sexual expression,
aggressive behavior, or altruism depend on the personality of the
viewer, the environment, and context in which the material was viewed.28
25E.I. Donnerstein and D.G. Linz. 1986. "Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male Viewers:
Current Theory and Research," American Behavioral Scientist 29~1~:601-618.
26C. Krafka, D. Linz, E. Donnerstein, and S. Penrod. 1997. "Women's Reactions to Sexu-
ally Aggressive Mass Media Depictions," Violence Against Women 3~2~:149.
27See, for example, D.G. Linz, E.I. Donnerstein, and S.M. Adams, 1989, "Physiological
Desensitization and Judgements About Female Victims of Violence," Human Communication
Research 15~4~:509-522; D.G. Linz, E.I. Donnerstein, and S. Penrod, 1988, "Effects of Long-
Term Exposure to Violent and Sexually Degrading Depictions of Women," Journal of Person-
ality and Social Psychology 55~5~: 758-768.
28Huston et al., 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 153
From the perspective of social learning theory, one can argue that behav-
iors that are learned are not necessarily performed.
6.2.3 Exposure to Non-violent Sexual Material
Most studies of the impact of sexually explicit material in the media
on adolescents' sexual attitudes and practices have been limited to the
sexual content in mainstream media. Youth exposed to content involving
sexual relations outside of marriage rated such behavior as significantly
less objectionable than did their peers who viewed either sexual relations
between married partners or non-sexual relations between adults,29 a find-
ing consistent with social learning theory (i.e., disinhibition) or arousal
theory (i.e., desensitization). Viewing music videos increased the accept-
ability of premarital sex for teenagers as compared to teenagers who were
not similarly exposed.30 In some studies, youth exposed to explicit sexual
content that did not involve violence did not become desensitized,31 while
in others, large amounts of experimental exposure to such material led
men (and to some extent women) to be more callous toward gender rela-
tionships, more likely to overestimate the prevalence of certain kinds of
non-mainstream sexual behavior such as sadomasochism and bestiality,
less likely to be offended by sexually explicit material, less likely to sup-
port restrictions on the distribution of sexually explicit materials, and
more likely to support lighter sentences for convicted rapists.32
Many media messages suggest to adolescents that they should be
thinking about sexual activity, and engaging in it early. Frequent televi-
29J. Bryant and S.C. Rockwell. 1994. "Effects of Massive Exposure to Sexually Oriented
Primetime Television Programming on Adolescents Moral Judgment," pp. 183-195 in Me-
dia, Children, and the Family: Social Scientific, Psychodynamic, and Clinical Perspectives, D.
Zillmann, J. Bryant, and A.C. Huston, eds., Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N.J.
30L.E. Greeson and R.A. Williams, 1987, "Social Implications of Music Videos for Youth:
An Analysis of the Content and Effects of MTV," Youth ~ Society 18~2~: 177-189; J.S. Strouse,
N. Buerkel-Rothfuss, and E.C. Long, 1995, "Gender and Family as Moderators of the Rela-
tionship Between Music Video Exposure and Adolescent Sexual Permissiveness," Adoles-
cence 30~119~: 505-521.
31D.G. Linz, E.I. Donnerstein, and S. Penrod, 1988, "Effects of Long-Term Exposure to
Violent and Sexually Degrading Depictions of Women," Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 55~5~: 758-768; D.G. Linz, E.I. Donnerstein, and S.M. Adams, 1989, "Physiological
Desensitization and Judgments About Female Victims of Violence," Human Communication
Research 15~4~: 509-522.
32Regarding callousness toward gender relationships, they were more likely to agree that
"pickups should expect to put out" and "a woman doesn't mean 'no' unless she slaps you."
Regarding lighter sentences, those with large amounts of experimental exposure recom-
mended incarceration times that were 53 percent as long as those with no exposure at all.
See D. Zillmann and J. Bryant, 1982, "Pornography, Sexual Callousness, and the Triviali-
zation of Rape," Journal of Communication 32~4~: 10-21.
54
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
sion viewers are less likely to believe that marriages are happy or lasting,
prompted perhaps by the depiction of married couples who are not happy,
not having sex, or having sex with a person other than their spouse.33
Compared to non-viewers, soap opera viewers appear to believe that
single mothers have relatively easy lives, with good jobs, high levels of
education, significant leisure time, and freedom from poverty. They were
also more likely to believe that the male friends of a single mother will be
important in her children's lives.34
In one study, teenagers frequently viewing television with a high de-
gree of sexual content were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse
than those who viewed television with a smaller proportion of sexual
content, though it is unclear whether viewing such content contributes to
a teen's decision to engage in intercourse, or instead, whether those who
are already engaging in sexual activity are more likely to seek out such
programs.35 A longitudinal study found no strong or consistent evidence
for links between the amount or sexual content of television viewing by
children and the initiation of sexual activity.36 Other studies have sug-
gested that frequent viewers of mainstream television programs tend to
have more negative attitudes toward remaining a virgin and that becom-
. · · · · · (2~
ring a non-v~rg~n Is a pr~or~ty.~
Many studies indicate that Me media seem to have an effect on atti-
tudes, although it is difficult to assess whether these attitudes are long-
lasting, Me extent to which attitudes are related to behavior, and Me degree
to which Me media, compared win other sources of experience in a young
person's life, are influential in shaping Me choices a young person makes.
For example, although studies have shown that viewing fashion magazines
tends to cause lower self-scoring by girls on body image indices, not all
girls become anorexic. In one study in which early adolescent females were
asked to keep journals about what they observed in the media about love,
sex, and relationships, the participants' experience was extremely impor-
tant in shaping how hey interpreted and reacted to sexuality in the
33N. Signorielli. 1991. ''Adolescents and Ambivalence Toward Marriage: A Cultivation
Analysis,,, Youth and Society 23~1~: 11-25.
34M. Larson. 1996. sex Roles and soap Operas: What Adolescents Learn About Single
Motherhood,,, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 35~1/2~: 97-121.
35J.D. Brown and s. Newcomer. 1991. ''Television viewing and Adolescents, Sexual se
havior,,, Journal of Homosexuality 21~1 /2y, 77-gl.
36J.L. Peterson, K.A. Moore, and F.F. Furstenberg. 1991. ''Television viewing and Early
Initiation of Sexual Intercourse: Is There a Link?,,, Journal of Homosexuality 21~1/2~: 93-llg.
37srown and Newcomer, 1991, ''Television viewing and Adolescents, Sexual Behavior,,;
strouse et aL, 1995, '~Gender and Family as Moderators of the Relationship Between Music
Video Exposure and Adolescent Sexual Permissiveness.,
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 155
media.38 One prepubertal 12-year-old did not want to see sex in We media,
while over girls who were beginning to think about relationships were
very interested in Me romantic heterosexual script. Girls who had been
sexually active were more critical of Me media's portrayal of sexual interac-
tion and Me roles male and females should take (according to these repre-
sentations). Experience, development, and age made enormous differences
in Me types of reactions girls had to media depictions about sex.
6.2.4 Caveats and Cautions
Although some literature exists on traditional forms of media (e.g.,
television, radio, magazines), the empirical research that examines the
impact on children of exposure to non-violent sexual material is extremely
limited.39 Social mores and ethical issues generally prevent U.S. scientists
from studying the impact of media on sexual behavior (Box 6.1~. Because
there are so few studies in this area, the empirical research that does exist
must be viewed with caution, and in particular must not be viewed as
making statements or supporting conclusions that go beyond the research
designs employed.
· Correlational studies do not permit one to make causal inferences.
For example, in the studies mentioned in Footnote 37, it is possible that a
third factor, such as different values and beliefs about sexual activity, is
actually responsible for the trend in attitude described and that television
viewing is an extraneous variable.
· Some researchers have attempted to avoid the complications of
studying minors by observing the impact of sexually explicit material on
college-age viewers. These studies seek to extrapolate the impact this
material may have on younger populations. It is not clear to what extent
this generalization is appropriate because younger individuals have very
different developmental needs and experiences than do college-age stu-
dents. Some research has suggested that college-age students viewing
sexually explicit material may develop more callous attitudes toward
women and female sexuality, but it has not been clear to what extent these
attitudes are lasting.40
38Sarah Keller, 2000, "How Do Early Adolescent Girls use Media to Shape Their Romantic
Identities?,,, unpublished doctoral dissertation, university of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
39For instance, a Kaiser Family Foundation report reviewed existing research on the me-
dia, finding no more than 15 empirical studies on this topic. see Huston et aL, 1998, Measur-
ing the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media.
40Donnerstein and Linz, 1986, ''Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male viewers: current
Theory and Research,,; Zillmann and Bryant, 1982, '~Pornography, Sexual Callousness, and
the Trivialization of Rape.~,
156
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
· Experimental studies typically examine impact on time scales rang-
ing from minutes to days (in a small number of cases, effects are mea-
sured 3 to 6 weeks after the experimental treatment). For example, view-
ing a television program may change a person's immediate state by
inducing arousal, leading to inhibition of impulses, or activating thoughts
or associations, and in doing so might have immediate influence on one's
behavior. However, such studies do not provide an empirical basis for
determining impact over longer time scales (e.g., months to decades), and
in particular cannot provide a sound empirical basis for claims of long-
term deviant sexual behavior resulting from exposure to sexually explicit
material in one's youth.
Societal impact is better assessed using longitudinal data that mea-
sures long-term effects. Experimental studies do not address long-term
impact, and there is significant debate and disagreement over whether
results of such experiments can be extrapolated to the long term. For
example, some studies of college-age students suggest that males viewing
sexually violent movies displayed more callous attitudes toward female
victims.41 However, these attitudes were tested immediately after view-
ing the film and several weeks later with no further follow-up. Longer-
term effects have simply not been measured. There also is little informa-
tion as to how other experiences might interact with and mitigate some of
these negative attitudes.
· It is difficult to generalize clinical research to broader populations
because of the sampling issue. Those who seek or obtain clinical treat-
ment for criminal sexual behavior, for example, are hardly a representa-
tive sample of the population that may or may not have been affected by
the viewing of sexually explicit material in their youth.
· Empirical studies examining the impact of exposure to other me-
dia content (e.g., studies of the impact of viewing violence) cannot be
extrapolated with confidence to the sexual domain. Studies that measure
the impact of violent material are sometimes used to speculate about the
impact of sexually explicit material on the basis that learning processes
that underlie both types of content are similar. Although one can envision
similarities between the effects of watching violent and sexually violent
material, the impact of content that is sexually explicit but not violent may
be very different. No research is available to establish the extent to which
it is appropriate to extrapolate from studies of one type of media content
to other types.
41Donnerstein and Linz, 1986, "Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male Viewers: Current
Theory and Research"; Zillmann and Bryant, 1982, "Pornography, Sexual Callousness, and
the Trivialization of Rape."
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 157
· Cross-cultural studies to which researchers sometimes turn to
identify possible connections between exposure to sexually explicit mate-
rial and behavior, and which are made necessary by ethical and legal
constraints in doing research in this area in the United States have lim-
ited applicability. For example, cross-cultural studies of youth being ex-
posed to nudity and explicit material at a relatively young age do not
show higher levels of sexual addiction or teen pregnancy in European
countries compared with the United States. However, European children
also receive early, frequent, and comprehensive sex education in a way
that is not typical in the United States. This could suggest that such edu-
cation offers a useful context for interpreting sexually explicit material. It
may also suggest that sexually explicit material does not have the type of
impact on behavior that some may fear.
6.3 FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPACT ON MINORS
OF EXPOSURE TO SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL
The phrase "impact on minors of exposure to sexually explicit mate-
rial" used by itself obscures a number of important differentiating factors,
because "impact," "minors," "exposure," and "sexually explicit material"
all have a wide range of meaning. Without considering these differences,
an overly simplistic analysis is inevitable. Consider each of these terms in
turn.
6.3.1 Impact
As noted above, impact can be measured in the short term or long
term. Its magnitude can be large or small (and people with different
values will differ on whether a given change in a certain dimension is
large or small). And a particular impact may be desirable or undesirable.
(The desensitization of a teenager who has been viewing sexually explicit
behavior on an adult Web site can be regarded as undesirable, if one
believes that such depictions should be shocking and socially unaccept-
able, or as desirable, if one believes that a desensitized individual will
simply ignore such images in the future.) Moreover, "impact" may not be
confined to the direct results of exposure to sexually explicit material (for
example, impact may also include the punishment that a teenager might
receive for viewing such material).
6.3.2 Minors
Children from birth to 17 or 18 vary widely in maturity and develop-
mental perspective. The broad range of cognitive, social, emotional, and
158
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
moral reasoning and developmental abilities encompassed by this age
range means that a 6-year-old will react differently than a 16-year-old to
sexually explicit content. The youngest children may not find such im-
ages remarkable or memorable because they do not have the cognitive
abilities or understand the social meaning of explicit images. In contrast,
because they are becoming curious about sex and are experiencing chang-
ing bodies and a changing social landscape, those in the 9 to 12 age range
may be more vulnerable to disturbing portrayals of sex and sexual activ-
ity. (For perspective, note that the mean age of first intercourse is around
17 I/: years of age, as discussed in Section 5.2.)
Among the adolescents to whom the committee spoke, those in high
school (the 11th and 12th grades) were much less concerned about expo-
sure to sexually explicit material on the Internet than were middle-school
students. Indeed, the 11th and 12th graders noted that they were exposed
to similar material in every other part of their lives, and they now found it
more annoying than upsetting. By contrast, the middle-schoolers were
less nonchalant and tended to be more concerned about such material.
6.3.3 Gender
Gender is also likely to influence the impact of sexually explicit mate-
rial on young people in part because it will influence how and with what
characters young viewers identify. This is not to suggest that girls will
only identify with female characters and boys with male characters, but
the gender of the viewer will certainly affect how one interprets the treat-
ment of characters. In addition, some research suggests that girls and
boys select different types of media (e.g., Glamour has a broad female
readership) and use them in different ways. For example, some studies
suggest that girls use the media to gain insight about interpersonal rela-
tionships in one study girls who viewed a video about teen ure~nancv
reflected more about the content than boys.42
In the context of viewing sexually explicit material (especially im-
ages), the overwhelming majority of such material is oriented toward
male consumers, with females being the object of sexual activity, and
boys tend to be more interested in visual depictions of sexual images than
are girls.43 Put another way, preadolescent and adolescent males are
1 to .J
42M. Thompson, K. Walsh-Childers, and J.D. Brown, 1993, ''The Influence of Family com-
munication Patterns and Sexual Experience on Processing of a Movie Video,,, pp. 248-263 in
Media, Sex and the Adolescent, s.s. Greenberg, J.D. Brown, and N.L. suerkel-Rothfuss, eds.,
Hampton Press, N.J.
43For example, men demonstrate greater interest in visual sexual stimuli than do women
0.M. Bailey, s. Gaulin, Y. Agyei, and s.A. Gladue, 1994, ''Effects of Gender and Sexual
THE RESEARCH BASE ON THE IMPACT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL 159
more likely to view online adult-oriented sexually explicit material than
are females of the same ages.44
6.3.4 Special Needs
The experiences of minors encompass a very wide range, and certain
segments of the population may be more susceptible to influence and
impact than others. For example, one site visit of the committee took it to
a residential school for young girls who had been sexually abused. Staff
at the school expressed to the committee the concern that for these girls,
sometimes at the start of a very long recovery process fraught with psy-
chological and emotional pitfalls, even one exposure to a sexually violent
or abusive image especially if they were not prepared for it could be
highly damaging to them and to their recovery.
6.3.5 Exposure
One dimension of exposure is the type of stimulus involved visual,
still or moving, textual, and so on. A second dimension is the intensity
and duration of exposure 3 hours per day, every day, for 5 years is
obviously different from once for 3 minutes in the last 2 years. Most
research in this area, sparse though it is, has focused primarily on the
impact of exposure patterns that are quite frequent and deliberate rather
than incidental or inadvertent and rare, and have involved primarily vi-
sual stimuli.
A third dimension of exposure is the context in which it occurs. In
particular, parental involvement in adolescent television viewing and dia-
log about the meanings conveyed in depictions of sexual activity can
influence the relationship between viewing and sexual behavior. For ex-
ample, one study showed that adolescents who did not talk with their
parents about television were more likely to have sexual intercourse than
those who did.45 The style with which families communicate about the
Orientation on Evolutionarily Relevant Aspects of Human Mating Psychology,,, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 66~6~: 1081-1093~. In the context of sexual fantasy, visual
imagery is also more important for men than for women ~s.J. Ellis and D. symons, 1990,
sex Differences in Sexual Fantasy: An Evolutionary Psychological Approach,,, Journal of
Sex Research 27~4~: 527-555~. One caveat: these studies were conducted using adult subjects
rather than minors.
44In surveying adults, a Nielsen Media survey found that about two-thirds of the users of
sexually explicit Internet sites are male. see CommerceNet/Nielsen Media, 1998, Internet
Demographic Study, June.
45Peterson et aL, 1991, ''Television viewing and Early Initiation of Sexual Intercourse: Is
There a Link?,
160
YOUTH, PORNOGRAPHY, AND THE INTERNET
media also seemed to influence the way adolescents interpret sexual con-
tent in the media.46
A fourth dimension of exposure is whether exposure has been volun-
tary or involuntary, as discussed in Sections 5.5.1 and 5.5.2. Most of the
research known to the committee regarding exposure to sexually explicit
material has involved voluntary and hence anticipated exposure. Thus,
little is known empirically about the impact of involuntary and unantici-
pated exposure. Given that inadvertent exposure to sexually explicit mate-
rial on the Internet generally occurs at some point, an important question is
the nature and extent of the impact of a surprise encounter.
6.3.6 The Type of Sexually Explicit Material
There is a very wide range of material that different people regard as
sexually explicit, including photos of models in bathing suits, couples
having intercourse, group sex scenes, sadomasochism, gay and lesbian
sex, and erotic texts of the Kama Sutra or The Joy of Sex, as well as scholarly
works such as those of Masters and Tohnson.47 As noted above, the im-
pact of images depicting sexual violence is likely to be different from the
impact of images depicting non-violent and consensual sex; presentation
of the material is also likely to affect the nature of the impact (e.g., the
difference in portrayal of sexuality in Playboy compared to that in Our
Bodies, Ourselves).
Along the lines of presentation, realism in the media (or at least that
which young people perceive as being believable portrayals of sexuality)
may be more influential than depictions that seem less realistic. Depic-
tions of sexuality that are realistic but romanticized or idealistic may
encourage young people to have unrealistic expectations of sexuality and
may induce or influence young people to adopt these portrayals as guides
to sexual behavior and romantic relationships.48
46Thompson et aL, 1993, ''The Influence of Family communication Patterns and Sexual
Experience on Processing of a Movie Video.~,
47see, for example, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, 1966, Human Sexual Response,
Little, Brown and company, Boston; William Masters and Virginia Johnson, 1970, Human
Sexual Inadequacy, Little, Brown and company, Boston.
48Huston et aL, 1998, Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media: A Report to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
