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ABSTRACT
Empirical evidence suggests that television and other media influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. Much of the research in this area is based on surveys in which adolescents are asked to rank the relative importance of a fixed set of factors such as parents, peers, and media. We reviewed data from focus groups conducted with adolescents and their parents to examine the extent to which adolescents identify-without prompting-media as a source of influence on sexual behavior. Adolescents seemed indifferent to media influence (e.g., media influence was mentioned in only one adolescent focus group), but their parents expressed significant concern about media influence. Future research should investigate the extent to which influences exist outside of adolescents' consciousness. For now, parents and sexuality educators may need to convince adolescents that concerns about the media are valid before trying to change media-inflenced behavior.
Adolescents are active consumers of messages broadcast on radio and television, printed in magazines, distributed on the Internet, and presented in video games. As technology has advanced, access to these varying types of media has become common in U.S. households: 98% have at least one television, 70% have more than one television, 70% have cable, and 51% of households with children have a computer (Paik, 2001). Wireless resources such as radio/CD headsets, handheld televisions, portable video game players, and internet access via cellular phones add to the numerous sources of media access. In addition, VCR usage allowing repetitive viewing of movies and access to age-restricted movies must be taken into consideration when studying media access. With each additional source of access, popular media may replace more worthwhile activities (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signoriello, 1986). Further, adolescents appear to be using media in an isolated manner: more adolescents seem to have media available in their private bedrooms (Larson, 1995).
The media passively reinforce gender and ethnic stereotypes (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1986). Passive reinforcement of gender and ethnic stereotypes was demonstrated in a content analysis of Rolling Stone magazine, a popular adolescent periodical, which examined gender and ethnic themes in issues published in the years 1968 and 1988 (Wilson, 1990). Results from the content analysis suggested that women and people from traditionally underrepresented groups were rarely the source of stories; when they were featured,...