Differential Relationships Between Adolescents’ Television Diets and Their Hypergender Orientations

• In Event: Growing Up With Media: Gender, Sexuality, and Romance During the Teen & Young Adult Years (HHD Session)

Abstract

This paper describes a short-term longitudinal study among 1,007 adolescents (13-17 years old), investigating reciprocal relationships between adolescents’ television diets and their endorsement of hypergender orientations (i.e., hypermasculinity and hyperfemininity). The findings show that different television programs were related to hypergendered orientations in different ways. The most notable finding was the relevance of reality TV docu-soaps for adolescents’ hypergender orientations; Exposure to this type of content predicted a greater endorsement of hypergender orientations among both boys and girls, and it was more often selected by hypergendered boys. Another interesting finding was that more frequent exposure to romantic comedy movies predicted an increased endorsement of hyperfeminine gender roles among girls, but more frequent exposure to situational comedies was associated with lower levels of girls’ hyperfemininity. These findings could be used in media literacy interventions targeting the influence of television exposure on adolescents’ stereotypical gender role notions.

Author

• Johanna M.F. van Oosten