1-201 - Gleaned from the Screen: Modern Media and Adolescents’ Romantic and Sexual Relationships

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Media hold a central spot in the lives of modern youth. Data indicate that youth use media for 7.5 hours a day. Although a good deal of this time is spent with traditional media, such as television and movies, newer media genres (e.g., reality TV) and media platforms (e.g., social networking sites like Facebook) have changed how youth experience their social and sexual relationships. With social media come social pressures to present oneself in a certain way. Pictures posted on these sites often reflect extremes of the cultural physical ideals. Many youth express pressure to participate in sexting. Additional concerns come from the easy accessibility of online pornography. How does early exposure to this content shape subsequent sexual scripts and beliefs?
We explore these questions in this symposium, by using multiple methods and approaches to examine the use and potential impact of these new media formats. The first paper uses focus group data to explore the nature and impact of adolescents’ romantic attachments to celebrities, and their use of traditional and social media to sustain these parasocial relationships. The second paper presents survey data from high school students, exploring contributions of both traditional media and social media to their developing sexual scripts. The third paper investigates pornography exposure among 6th and 9th graders and its connections to their feelings about their own femininity and masculinity. The final paper uses longitudinal survey data to examine connections between early exposure to sexually explicit online media and risky sexual behavior.

Sub Unit

• Sex, Gender

Chair

• Lucretia Monique Ward, Univ of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Teen Idols: Reflections on Adolescent Celebrity Crushes in the 21st Century - Presenting Author: Sarah Erickson, Unviersity of Michigan

• My Sexy Tweetheart: Contributions of Traditional and Social Media to Teen Sexual Scripts - Presenting Author: Lucretia Monique Ward, Univ of Michigan; Lauren Reed, Psychology and Social Work Departments, University of Michigan

• Pornography Use: Gender Role Strain and Performing Masculinity - Presenting Author: Soraya Giaccardi, Psychology Department, University of Michigan; Poco Kernsmith, School of Social Work, Wayne State University; Joanne P. Smith-Darden, Wayne State University; Roger Kernsmith, Sociology, Anthropology, & Criminology Department, Eastern Michigan University

• Sexually Explicit Internet Media Use and Later Online and Offline Sexual Behavior Among Female Adolescents - Presenting Author: Megan Maas, Pennsylvania State University; Jennie G. Noll, Penn State University