Gizem Kurtbolat Effect of Media Literacy Education on American Adolescents’ Sexual Socialization

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,

and analyze media messages) in sex education (Aufderheide, 1993; Jeong et al., 2012; Pinkleton et al., 2013; Ward, 2003). Although the content in media literacy education (MLE) varies from program to program, the main goal is to give adolescents the tools they need to deconstruct media messages and increase their awareness of how media messages are produced so they can become active interpreters rather than passive consumers (APA, 2010; Austin et al., 2015; Pinkleton et al., 2013; Scull et al., 2018; Ward et al., 2014). MLE programs are developed based on the Media Interpretation Process (MIP) model, which suggests that the extent of a media product’s potential influence is based on the heuristics (i.e., cognitive tools that individuals develop based on their past experiences) individuals apply to the message (Austin, 2007; Kupersmidt et al., 2010; Scull et al., 2014; Vahedi et al., 2018). Furthermore, the model suggests that level of identification with the media message predicts the type of outcome (e.g., good or bad) they expect from engaging in the behavior, which, in turn, reliably predicts what behavior the individual will engage in (Austin, 2007; Scull et al., 2014). Through raising awareness of how media messages are produced and presented, educators hope to increase adolescents’ likelihood of reassessing the accuracy of these messages, ultimately decreasing the extent to which they are internalized (Austin et al., 2015; Pinkleton et al., 2013; Scull et al., 2018; Ward et al., 2014). One key component of MLE focuses on the improvement of adolescents’ logic-based decision-making skills, in order to improve their critical thinking capabilities, to help combat the glamorized sexual content (Pinkleton et al., 2012). MLE provides students with critical thinking skills (i.e., deconstructing media messages) to combat the influence of carefully designed media messages by thoroughly evaluating the source and intention behind the message (Austin et al., 2015; Kupersmidt et al., 2010; Vahedi et al., 2018).

MLE programs aim to change media-related outcomes in a variety of ways (Jeong et al., 2013). MLE programs seek to support knowledge outcomes by increasing an individual’s understanding of how the media uses techniques to create more persuasive content through the use of emotive words, for example (Hobbs & Frost, 2003). In addition to knowing how media messages and content are created, MLE programs also aim to help adolescents understand how this process impacts their beliefs and thoughts, in the hope of making them more skeptical and cautious about the sources behind the messages or content they will see, hear, or read (Austin et al., 2005; Jeong et al., 2013). Lastly, the programs help explain to adolescents that although the messages they view are portrayed as examples of the real world, in actuality much of the content shared in media is not an accurate portrayal of reality (Austin et al., 2007; Jeong et al., 2012).

In addition, MLE programs aim to change behaviorrelated outcomes through attitudes, beliefs, and norms (Jeong et al., 2012). MLE programs tend to focus on improving critical thinking skills in order to influence behavior, making behavior a distal outcome (i.e., not directly affected by the intervention; the persuasive techniques used to create media content) and what they need to pay attention to (i.e., the source behind the media content) so that they can evaluate and question the content (Kupersmidt et al., 2010; Pinkleton et al., 2012). The expectation, then, is that these skills will lead to a change in behavior (Jeong et al., 2012). In fact, past research has found that MLE programs decrease the likelihood of adolescents engaging in risky or unhealthy sexual behaviors (Austin et al., 2005). For example, participation in MLE programs led adolescents to develop negative attitudes and beliefs to risky sexual behaviors, such as not using a condom (Austin et al., 2007).

Furthermore, MLE programs decrease adolescents’ perceived realism of sexual content and increase their skepticism towards media messages (Scull et al., 2018). Adolescents who participate in these programs are more likely to consider delaying becoming sexually active, and are less likely to think having sex will make them cool (Pinkleton et al., 2008; Scull et al., 2018). MLE provides adolescents with media-related critical thinking skills, increasing their skepticism and getting them to question their previous beliefs about sexual socialization. However, whether or not they change their behavior is not clear (Bulger & Davison, 2018; Vahedi et al., 2018). Notably, the skills adolescents learn in MLE have an impact on their logic-based decision-making mechanisms, but not affect-based decision-making mechanisms. This is exemplified by the fact that adolescents who participate in MLE understand that the depictions of sexual behavior in the media are fictional and glamorized, but they still find the portrayals of sexual content desirable (Pinkleton et al., 2013; Scull et al., 2018). However, this is only problematic if adolescents start associating the desirable message with what occurs in real life. If the adolescent is able to recognize that the content was fictionalized to attract the audience’s attention, they will be less likely to trust the misleading message and portrayal of sex (Austin et al., 2015). Ultimately, adolescents who participate in MLE programs are less likely to be influenced by the unrealistic and inconsequential portrayal of sexual behavior in the media because they have the skills to critically question and evaluate the media messages they are exposed to (Pinkleton et al., 2013).

Conclusion

MLE acts as a tool to promote media literacy by providing adolescents with the skills to deconstruct media messages, increasing their likelihood to make healthy decisions and have realistic expectations about sex (Austin et al., 2015; Brown, 2008a, 2008b; Pinkleton et al., 2013; Ward et al., 2014). Research shows that the media literacy skills adolescents learned in MLE programs were retained after the program had ended (Vahedi et al., 2018). Retention of these skills ensures that when exposed to sexual content in the media, adolescents will be properly equipped to critically analyze sexuality in media messages before trusting and internalizing their positive and nonconsequential depictions (Randall & Langlais, 2020; Vahedi et al., 2018).

The MLE programs examined in this review are provided

as part of sex education or health education curricula. MLE is intertwined with the topics that are covered in these classes, focusing on sex and other risky behaviors such as drinking and smoking (Pinkleton et al., 2012; Vahedi et al., 2018). The main purpose of these classes is to increase adolescents’ knowledge about unhealthy or risky behaviors, but the addition of MLE increases adolescents’ understanding of how and why these behaviors are portrayed in the media. Additionally, research has shown an increase in the efficacy of MLE on sexual socialization when combined with sex education or health education classess, since the curricala act as guides for what needs to be covered in the media (Scull et al., 2014; Vahedi et al., 2018).

Future research should examine the long-term effects of MLE programs, specifically the extent to which adolescents retain the knowledge and skills from the programs (Pinkleton et al., 2015; Vahedi et al., 2018). While there is evidence of retention of the information learned, how long it remains effective is not clear. Future studies should also explore changes in actual behavior, since currently studies measure behavioral change based on behavioral intentions (e.g., I will use condoms; Pinkleton et al., 2008; Scull et al., 2018). Finally, greater priority should be placed on funding evidence-based MLE programs (Bulger & Davison, 2018; Vahedi et al., 2018). While there is growing support for MLE programs to be included in school curricula, there is no tangible evidence of any effort to accomplish this (Bulger & Davison, 2018). Focusing on MLE in both practice and research can help with the creation of strong, evidence-based programs, (Pinkleton et al., 2012; Scull et al., 2014; Scull et al., 2018; Ward, 2003), to help limit the impact of misinformation on adolescents’ development.

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