Effect of Media Literacy Education on American Adolescents’ Sexual Socialization Gizem Kurtbolat
Mass media plays a critical role in young people’s lives, as adolescents use mass media not only for entertainment and communication, but also as a source of information (Crone & Konjin, 2018). Information surrounding sex and relationships is particularly prevalent in mass media (L’Engle, 2006; Pinkleton et al., 2013). Thus, rather than talking to their parents, adolescents turn to the media for information about sex because it provides a more private and comfortable environment in which to consume such sensitive content (Brown & L’Engle, 2009). Unfortunately, however, the information adolescents receive from the media is not always accurate (L’Engle et al., 2006; Peter & Valkenburg, 2007). Many of the sources adolescents turn to, in order to learn more about sex and relationships, expose them to sexually explicit messages that lack factual information about sexual health and sexual responsibility, which can negatively affect their attitudes and expectations towards sexuality (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010; Peter & Valkenburg, 2008; Vahedi et al., 2018; Ward, 2003). As adolescence is a period characterized by a spike in sexual curiosity and risk-taking behaviors, examining the explicit sexual content they consume, both passively and actively, is important to foster positive sexual socialization (i.e., a process in which adolescents learn and internalize attitudes, values, and knowledge about sexuality through integrating information from several different socializing agents; Randall & Langlais, 2019; Vahedi et al., 2018). Teaching adolescents skills to critically analyze the media messages they are exposed to could mitigate the media’s influence on sexual socialization and prevent the internalization of inaccurate messages (Scull et al., 2018; Vahedi et al., 2018). Through media literacy education (MLE), adolescents learn to analyze and decode information, which promotes a critical understanding of both print and electronic media (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010; Scull et al., 2014). Consequently, this review explored the question: How does media literacy education for adolescents in the US affect their sexual socialization? Media’s Effect on Adolescents’ Sexual Socialization In the past decade, the media has become an increasingly powerful socializing agent in providing adolescents with information about sexuality (Rousseau et al., 2017). Adolescents are exposed to various verbal and visual portrayals of sex and relationships through mass media (Ward, 2003). For example, television shows targeted at adolescents contained more sexual content in comparison to shows targeted at adults (Strasburger, 2012). Frequent exposure to sexually explicit media has an effect on early sexual behavior, sexual norms, and sex-based behavioral expectations (Brown & L’Engle, 2009; Strasburger,
2012; Ward et al., 2014). For instance, frequent exposure to sex-based behavioral expectations, such as the portrayal of women as objects for sex and men as powerful aggressors, can influence an adolescent’s understanding of what is demanded of them sexually (Brown & L’Engle, 2009; Randall & Langlais, 2019). The effect of these behavioral expectations on adolescents is mediated through a concept called perceived realism (i.e., the degree to which the viewer believes the content they see on the media is a representation of what happens in the realworld; Bahk, 2001). Adolescents accept the incorrect messages about sexuality because frequent exposure to the same sexually explicit messages makes them seem accurate and representative of real-world instances (Austin, 2007; Peter & Valkenburg, 2006; Tian & Yoo, 2016). An increase in perceived realism raises the likelihood of internalizing messages from the media (Austin, 2007; Peter & Valkenburg, 2006; Tian & Yoo, 2016). The internalization (i.e., unconscious mental process where the beliefs and attitudes of others are adopted as one’s own) of sexual messages has a direct impact on an adolescent’s attitudes toward romantic and sexual behavior (APA, n.d., internalization; Rousseau et al., 2017). The internalization and subsequent influence of media messages on attitudes and behavior can be explained through the script and super-peer theories (Strasburger, 2012). The script theory suggests that people form behavioral patterns, or scripts, based on the cultural norms they are exposed to; therefore, when adolescents are frequently exposed to hypersexualized content in the media, they start forming scripts of behaviors, attitudes, and norms according to the content they view in the media that will ultimately guide their social behavior (Maas et al., 2019; Randall & Langlais, 2019). The super-peer theory suggests that the media acts as a “super-peer” as it exerts a more powerful influence over adolescents than their own peers (Randall & Langlais, 2019; Strasburger, 2007, 2012). Thus, the scripts adolescents form based on the messages they receive from the media are as or more influential than the messages from their peers (Randall & Langlais, 2019; Strasburger, 2007, 2012). As media continues to become a more powerful and influential socializing agent for adolescents, it is imperative to interrupt the internalization of the hypersexualized messages portrayed to help create healthy attitudes and realistic expectations about sex. Effect of Media Literacy Education on Sexual Socialization Due to the media’s role as a critical socializing agent and its consequential impact on adolescents’ sexual socialization, educators have conveyed the need for the incorporation of media literacy (i.e., learning skills and knowledge to access, evaluate, Reviews | 15
