[Has Sexual Content in Primetime Television increased or decreased over the Past Decade]

by

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW3

Background3

Content Analyses3

Prime Time Television4

The “Family Hour” Report4

Movies5

Soap Operas5

Music Videos5

Magazines6

Media Use and Functions6

Media Use6

Media Functions8

Media Effects9

Theory10

What the Studies Show11

Factors Moderating the Effect of Viewing Sex12

What Outcomes Are Important?14

Healthy Sex or Sexual Health?14

Health Risks15

Controlling for Key Variables16

Sexual Development16

Infancy and Early Childhood16

Adolescence17

Initiating Sexual Intercourse18

Sexually Risky Behavior18

Pregnancy19

Conclusion20

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS & DISCUSSION21

Measuring Media Content: Content Analysis21

Basic Features of a Properly Conducted Content Analysis21

Linking Content With Behavior22

Measuring Media Use and Functions22

Measuring Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior24

Types of Effects24

Media Use and Functions26

Media Content Analyses27

Media Effects27

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS33

Conclusion33

Recommendations37

Study limitations and suggestions for future research41

REFERENCES43

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

Background

Media effects have been demonstrated for many aspects of social behavior, including aggression, social stereotyping, prosocial behavior, and social attitudes. Effects of television violence have been studied most extensively, and most social scientists agree that exposure to violent television has a causal effect on aggressive behavior (cf. Comstock, 2001; Huston et al., 2002). Although the effects of sexual content have received relatively little attention from researchers, there are strong theoretical reasons to believe that media may play an especially important role in the socialization of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior (Arson, 2001). These were well summarized by Elizabeth Roberts (2002): “(1) the adult nature of most programming children watch; (2) children's limited access to or experience with countervailing information or ideas; (3) the 'realism' with which roles, relationships, and lifestyles are portrayed; and (4) the overwhelming consistency of the messages about sexuality that are communicated” (Roberts, 2002, p. 209).

Each of these points is even more pertinent in 2008 than in 2002. Children watch a great deal of adult programming, and there has been a steady increase in the frequency and explicitness of sexual content on broadcast television. Young people have access to a much wider range of video content as well as to other entertainment media than they did in the early 2000s. Many of these portrayals show glamorous, young individuals with whom many children and adolescents are likely to identify. Young people in this age range often name media figures as the people whom they would like to emulate. Finally, the United States has not moved very far toward providing sex education or other sources of sexual information for young people, leaving them to get sexual information largely from peers and mass media (Arson, 2001).

In this section, we consider what is known about the role of sexual media content in children's and adolescents' sexual development. First, we examine content analyses to determine what is available to ...