Effects of visual and verbal sexual television content and perceived realism on attitudes and beliefs.

Content analyses have repeatedly demonstrated that sex is a common element of television content (Kunkel, Cope, & Biely, 1999; Kunkel et al., 2003; Sapolsky & Tabarlet, 1991; Ward, 1995). These same analyses have shown that much of that content takes the form of talk about sex rather than depictions of sexual behaviors. Although the possible effects of sexual television content have received some attention in recent years, the nature and extent of such effects are still not clearly understood. In addition, available research is silent on the question of what kind of sexual representations--verbal depictions of sexual behaviors or talk about sex--produce observed effects. This study explores the nature of the effects of sexual television content by examining the effects of visual and verbal sexual content.

Mixed Findings of Past Research

There is no simple consensus on the nature or strength of the effects of viewing sexual television content, although a growing body of empirical research suggests that viewing sexual television content affects viewers' behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes (for reviews, see Gunter, 2002; Huston, Wartella, & Donnerstein, 1998; Ward, 2003). Some survey research has found a correlation between viewing sexual content on television and sexual activity; preference for television content that contains high amounts of sexual content, such as soap operas and MTV, is correlated with early onset of intercourse, increased sexual experience, and increased non-intercourse sexual behaviors such as petting (Brown & Newcomer, 1991; Nelson, 1997; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999). Other researchers, however, find no such relationship (Peterson, Moore, & Furstenburg, 1991).

More evidence is available that suggests that sexual television content influences viewers' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. Viewing episodes of television shows which discuss facts about specific contraceptive methods is associated, though weakly, with more accurate knowledge about those methods (Collins, Elliott, Berry, Kanouse, & Hunter, 2003; Kaiser Family Foundation, 1997). Attitudes and beliefs about sex are also apparently linked to media use. People who watch more sexual television content make elevated estimates of the real-world frequency of sexual behaviors depicted on television, including extramarital affairs, sex without love, bragging about sex (males only), being parent to illegitimate children, and using sex for favors (Buerkel-Rothfuss & Mayes, 1981; Buerkel-Rothfuss & Strouse, 1993; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999). Sexual television content has also been linked to beliefs and expectations about one's own sexual experiences (Aubrey, Harrison, Kramer, & Yellin, 2003; Buerkel-Rothfuss & Mayes, 1981). Further, correlations between heavy television use and relatively more permissive sexual attitudes have been observed (Signorielli, 1991; Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999). Some evidence suggests a correlation between media use and one's satisfaction with one's sexual experience or lack thereof (Courtright & Baran, 1980), although other research finds this to be limited to satisfaction with virginity status alone (Baran, 1976).

Limited experimental evidence suggests that such correlations occur, at least in part, as viewing sexual media content causes a shift in sexual attitudes. In one series of experiments, early adolescents watched either television programs containing sexual subject matter (such as Dynasty and Falcon Crest), nonsexual television programs, or no television at all after school each day for a week. Several days later, those who watched sexual television content expressed greater tolerance for marital infidelity and other sexual improprieties (Bryant & Rockwell, 1994). Smaller doses of sexual television content have also been shown to have an impact; in one study, teenagers who watched less than an hour of music videos were more approving of premarital sex than students who hadn't watched any videos (Greeson & Williams, 1987). Nor do these effects seem to be limited to children; in an experiment employing a college student sample, participants watched clips of television programs that conveyed sexual stereotypes commonly found on television. Women who viewed such clips were later more likely to endorse those stereotypes than women who viewed neutral, nonsexual content (Ward, 2002).

Experimental findings do not unequivocally support the notion that sexual content causes a shift in attitudes, however. For example, in a study in which college students viewed an erotic video, a romantic, nonsexual video, or no video at all, subjects who viewed the erotic video gave more permissive responses than subjects in other conditions on some items; those who viewed the romantic video gave more permissive responses on others (Calfin, Carroll, & Shmidt, 1993). In another study, teens viewed television content which contained scenes of prostitution and either married or unmarried intercourse; measures of beliefs about prostitution, married intercourse, and unmarried intercourse revealed no significant differences based on viewing condition (Greenberg, Linsangan, & Soderman, 1993).

One possible reason for the mixed results obtained in these various studies may lie in differences in the nature of the sexual content. This may include systematic differences in the messages conveyed by such content. Content analyses generally describe television content in broad terms--for example, sex on television is a form of risk-free recreation for unmarried couples (Greenberg & Hofschire, 2000; Kunkel et al., 1999; Sapolsky & Tabarlet, 1991; Ward, 1995)--but it may be that some groups or individuals view content that, while highly sexual, contains messages that are not consistent with the messages most commonly observed. Such inconsistencies in content may mask any presumed effect. This is particularly clear when we apply appropriate theoretical models to the question of such effects.

Learning from Television

The information processing model developed by Huesmann (1997, 1998) offers a useful tool for considering possible effects of viewing sexual television content. The model suggests that behaviors are guided by cognitive scripts, which are shaped by various learning and activation processes. These scripts guide behavior and guide attention to and interpretation of stimuli. Media content can influence these scripts in multiple ways, including shaping their development and content (learning), that would guide long-term effects. Media content can also influence which among existing scripts are accessible for use (generally referred to as priming), accounting for short-term effects. In both cases, the nature of the content largely determines the nature of the expected influence, although this is also influenced by interpretations arising from existing scripts.

Scripts are developed, according to the information processing model, through observational learning and conditioning (Huesmann, 1998). Salient features of one's environment, including the media environment, largely shape what is attended to and learned; the most attractive, interesting, or relevant elements of one's surroundings are the most likely to be attended to and incorporated into developing scripts (Huesmann, 1998). These features aptly describe television's sexual content; therefore, observing sexual behavior and talk about sex on television would be expected to contribute to the development of sexual scripts. Scripts, according to this model, contain not only procedural information (what to do), but also declarative information (what events mean, what should happen, and so forth) (Huesmann, 1997, 1998). Therefore, scripts may include not only information on how to perform a sexual behavior, but also information about when such a behavior is appropriate, expected, or likely, characteristics of partners in that behavior, and a wealth of other information.

Although short-term exposure to sexual television content is unlikely to produce lasting changes in an individual's sexual scripts, it may influence which scripts are used to guide decisions and behaviors in the short term. Existing scripts certainly guide the interpretation given to ambiguous sexual content, but less ambiguous content is likely to activate particular and consistent or relevant scripts in the mind of the viewer. These would then be expected to guide the expression of beliefs and attitudes expressed thereafter. If such activation is repeated, as through frequent television viewing, such scripts may become chronically available for use in processing.

Messages of Television's Sexual Content

Any effects of sexual media content are closely tied to the messages conveyed by that content. One of the broad messages often attributed to televised sexual content is the endorsement of greater sexual permissiveness. For the purposes of this study, sexual permissiveness is defined as acceptance or endorsement of sexual behaviors within relationships characterized by relatively lower levels of commitment. Such permissiveness underlies and includes major findings of a number of content analyses of television content (Kunkel et al., 1999; Sapolsky & Tabarlet, 1991; Ward, 1995), although levels of commitment vary. For instance, Kunkel et al. (1999) found that most sexual behaviors depicted in their sample occurred between individuals with an established relationship, although sexual behavior between married persons was rarely observed. Ward (1995), on the other hand, in her analysis of television's sex talk, found messages about the drawbacks of romantic attachment and the universal enjoyability of sex regardless of relationship state to be among the most common in her sample. For the purposes of this study, sexual content for inclusion in the experimental stimuli was selected for its permissive messages. Based on the information processing model, then, I formulated the first hypothesis:

H1: Individuals who view television content characterized by sexually permissive messages will endorse more permissive sexual attitudes and beliefs than individuals who do not view such content.

Perceived Realism

Another possible explanation for the mixed findings obtained in explorations of the effects of sexual television content is that other factors moderate or mediate the relationship between viewing sexual television and sexual beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Available evidence supports the idea that sexual television content does not have a uniform effect on everyone. Motives for viewing and viewer involvement have both been shown to moderate the impact of sexual television content on attitudes, beliefs, and expectations (Aubrey et al., 2003; Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999).

One individual difference that is likely to influence the degree to which an individual is influenced by television content is how realistic that individual perceives television content to be. Indeed, perceived realism has proven to be an important moderator of the effects of television on aggression (Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, & Eron, 2003), fear of victimization (Potter, 1986), and perceived salience of television content (Andsager, Austin, & Pinkleton, 2001). This makes intuitive sense; that which is realistic should be more important. It also makes theoretical sense; according to social cognitive theory, more realistic models are more likely to be attended to and subsequently imitated (Bandura, 2002; Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963). According to the information processing model, the belief that television content is more realistic would lead viewers to place more importance on what they view and to attend to it more carefully (Huesmann, 1998). This, in turn, would result in a greater influence of viewed television content in activating or altering existing scripts. This leads to the second hypothesis:

H2: Individuals who view depictions of permissive sexual television content and who perceive those depictions to be more realistic are more likely to endorse permissive sexual attitudes and beliefs than are individuals who view the same depictions and perceive them to be relatively less realistic.

Visual and Verbal Representations of Sex on TV

A final possible explanation for the equivocal findings resulting from studies of the effects of sex on television may lie in whether the sexual television content expected to drive such effects consists of visual depictions of sexual behaviors, talk about sex, or some combination of both. Exposure to either visual or verbal sexual content may activate scripts that are consonant with the content portrayed, and each may contribute to the learning of new scripts about sex. However, there are reasons to believe that verbal television content may be more capable of producing observable effects due to the differing nature of visual and verbal symbolic content and the manner in which each is interpreted and encoded.

Meyrowitz (1985) argues that there are basic differences between visual, or presentational, symbols and more abstract discursive symbols such as speech or the written word, particularly the amount of information each can convey. Although visual symbols convey very clear, specific detail, they are ineffective at conveying abstractions. Visual representations of sex on television communicate very clearly how depicted behaviors are performed, but they are less capable of conveying what those behaviors mean, including the nature of the relationship context in which those behaviors are occurring. When television characters talk about sex, however, much more information about meaning and context are conveyed.

The information processing model offers insight into how visual and verbal depictions of sex might lead to different effects on sexual attitudes and beliefs. According to the information processing model, attention to and interpretation of external situations are influenced by existing scripts or schemas (Huesmann, 1997). When an individual sees sexual television content, he or she must make sense of it before retrieving relevant scripts from memory and deciding how to respond. If that sexual content is visual in nature, it is inherently ambiguous. It is likely that the script or scripts the viewer brings to bear when interpreting such content will be those that are chronically accessible, and will therefore lead him or her to form interpretations consistent with his or her most chronically accessible sexual scripts. In this case, the meaning ascribed to the depiction is unlikely to conflict with his or her established beliefs and attitudes about sex. As a result, observing an effect is unlikely.

The viewer who attends to a verbal representation of sex, however, has less freedom to interpret the content. The representation is therefore likely to activate fairly specific scripts that are consonant with its content, or to provide information that may lead to the alteration of an existing script. Either type of response could lead to an observable effect.

Little empirical research has explicitly addressed the question of whether visual or verbal content is more influential. An experiment conducted by Crigler, Just, and Neuman (1994) found that news was better understood when presented verbally than visually, although there was no difference between the two in emotional impact. Mady and Newman (1987) found that individuals who viewed commercials for fictitious products were able to discern between true and false statements about those products better than individuals who only heard the same commercials. This research, although not particularly supportive of the theoretical arguments presented above, is also not inconsistent with them. Based principally on those theoretical arguments, then, I formulated the third hypothesis:

H3: Individuals who view permissive sexual television content that is depicted verbally will endorse more permissive sexual attitudes and beliefs than those who view similar behaviors depicted visually; this will be most clearly observed among those who perceive television content as relatively more realistic.

METHOD

Sample

Participants were 188 undergraduates (122 females, 66 males) recruited from introductory communications courses at a large Midwestern university. In exchange for their participation in a "study of media use," participants received a small amount of extra credit. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 26, with a median age of 19.71 (SD = .90). Experimental groups did not differ significantly on age (F [3, 183] = .82, p = .48), gender (F [3, 183] = .82, p = .48), recent sexual experience (number of sexual partners in the last year) (F [3, 183] = .93, p = .43), or history of high-risk sexual behavior (F [3, 183] = .69, p = .56).

Procedure

Participants were seated around a conference table in a room with a large television at one end. Groups were small, with 5 to 10 participants in each group. They were informed that they would participate in two separate studies, one on their reactions to television scenes, and one on their attitudes pertaining to one of a number of social topics. After signing an informed consent form, all participants completed a series of measures of demographic and media use information. After everyone had completed this short set of measures, the participants watched or read stimulus materials, according to the experimental condition to which they were randomly assigned. A no-viewing control group read paragraphs from magazines, a viewing control group viewed nonsexual television content, a verbal sexual depictions group viewed television content in which sex was discussed, and a visual sexual depictions group viewed television content in which sex was visually implied or suggested. During viewing, participants indicated how often they viewed each program and how realistic they perceived each segment to be. After viewing, participants completed measures of sexual attitudes and beliefs masked as an unrelated survey.

Measures

Sexual attitudes and beliefs. Sexually permissive attitudes were measured using the Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale (PSPS) by Sprecher (1998). This 5-item measure consists of statements about the appropriateness of sexual intercourse for the respondent on the first date, when casually dating, seriously dating, pre-engaged, and when engaged to be married. Respondents are instructed to indicate their agreement with each statement on a 6-point Likert scale. The overall scale is computed by summing 5 responses ([alpha] = .85). In order to render the scale more intuitively interpretable, the results were reversed by subtracting the original score from the maximum total score of 30, creating a scale with a theoretical (and observed) range from 0 to 25 in which higher scores reflect more permissive attitudes. This scale is referred to as PSPS-R (M = 15.63, SD = 6.15).

Sexual beliefs were measured using a cultivation measure in which participants were asked to indicate what proportion of their peers they perceived to be sexually active. This was done by asking each to estimate how many out of ten "average" men their age and women their age, respectively, in the United States were sexually active (see Buerkel-Rothfuss & Mayes, 1981). The mean estimate for male peers was 7.69 (SD = 1.70), and the mean estimate for female peers was 6.85 (SD = 1.59).

Perceived realism. I assessed the degree to which each participant perceived television content to be realistic through a measure patterned after one developed by Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999). As participants viewed the experimental stimuli, they rated each clip on how realistic it was on a scale from 1 (not realistic at all) to 5 (very realistic). Scores from all six television clips were then averaged to form a composite perceived realism score ([alpha] = .75, Mdn = 3.0, M = 2.93, SD = .68). In order to avoid potential sensitization effects that may have occurred had this measure been taken before exposure to the experimental stimuli, it was performed concurrent with exposure to the stimuli, with each participant asked to assess the realism of the clips shown to them.

Perceived realism was statistically uncorrelated with measures of sexual permissiveness (PSPS-R, estimates of male and female sexual activity) and uncorrelated with measures of frequency of viewing the programs from which the clips were drawn. So that perceived realism might be included as a factor in analyses of the effects of experimental conditions, a median split was conducted. Individuals with scores below 3.0 were coded as low in perceived realism; those with scores of 3.0 or higher were coded as high in perceived realism.

I addressed the possibility that comparable perceived realism scores in different conditions would reflect different constructs through a pretest conducted with a group of 20 individuals from the same population from which the experimental sample was drawn. These 20 individuals viewed all clips from all conditions and rated each according to perceived realism. Scores for perceived realism of clips from the neutral, visual depictions of sex, and verbal depictions of sex conditions were averaged and compared. Correlations among these scores were high (r = .82-.89) and significant (p [less than or equal to] .01). Further, paired t-tests showed no significant differences between any pair of perceived realism scores. Measuring perceived realism in this manner therefore seems to produce consistent results across all experimental conditions, and is not influenced by the specific clips within each condition.

Stimuli

Three video cassettes were prepared, one for each of the three exposure conditions. Each of the three videos included clips from the same six television programs: Friends (NBC), Just Shoot Me (NBC), Ally McBeal (FOX), That '70s Show (FOX), The Simpsons (FOX), and Dawson's Creek (WB). The Just Shoot Me and Simpsons segments were distractor segments, identical in all three video conditions. Three of the remaining segments in the stimulus for the visual sex condition depicted characters engaged in various pre- or post-intercourse behaviors, such as lying in bed together nude, looking in awe at the genitalia of a member of the opposite sex, or kissing passionately while disrobing and moving towards a bed while romantic music built towards a climax. Under the coding scheme employed by Kunkel et al. (2003), these would be classified as "intercourse strongly implied" with an explicitness of implied nudity or partial nudity. The fourth segment featured a young man disrobing and dancing nude in public to rebut accusations of sexual prudery. The four experimental segments in the verbal sex condition depicted the same characters represented in the visual condition talking about the same sexual encounter, either describing it or discussing it. No sexual behaviors were shown, and all characters were fully clothed. Finally, in the control condition, the same characters were shown discussing nonsexual subjects including skiing, cellular phones, and employment as a DJ. Each video lasted approximately 13 minutes.

In the no-viewing control condition, participants read a series of paragraphs on nonsexual topics from popular magazines. Topics of these paragraphs included sports and nature.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Hypothesis One: Effects of Sexy TV

Simple models of influence of sexual television content suggest uniform influence of all sexual content on all viewers. In order to represent such a model statistically, simple t-tests were conducted in which the scores of all participants who saw some form of sexual content were compared to those of all participants who did not. An alpha level of .05 was used for all tests. There were no significant differences between these groups on sexually permissive attitudes (t[186] = 0.82, p = .41), estimates of sexually active male peers (t[186] = 0.10, p = .92), or estimates of sexually active female peers (t[186] = 0.26, p = .80).

Hypothesis Two: Effects for High Realism Individuals

Ultimately, it is the difference in effects between those who view different kinds of sexual content and who differ on the degree to which they perceive television as realistic that is of interest in this study. Hypothesis two, that sexual content will have an influence principally among those who perceive television content as relatively more realistic, was tested by a series of MANOVAs in which viewing condition and perceived realism, as well as their interaction, were factors. Visual sex and verbal sex conditions were collapsed to provide a test of whether sexual content generally exerts the expected influence, and sex of participants and its interactions with all other factors were included in all analyses due to the established potency of gender in predicting sexual outcomes (Oliver & Hyde, 1993; Ward, 2003). Since perceived realism was not measured for participants who were in the no-viewing condition, the sample for these analyses was somewhat smaller (n = 142). A significant interaction between viewing condition (viewed sexual content or not) and perceived realism (high or low) would indicate support for hypothesis two.

Consistent with the hypothesis, participants who scored high in perceived realism and viewed sexual content on television endorsed more permissive attitudes than participants in other groups (see Table 1). I observed the expected interaction for PSPS-R (F[1, 132] = 4.80, p = .03) and no significant differences by condition among participants who scored low in perceived realism. Hypothesis two is at least partially supported; those who view permissive sexual content on television and perceive it to be more realistic exhibit more permissive sexual attitudes.

This effect did not extend to beliefs about peers' sexual activity, however. I did not find significant interactions for estimates of sexual activity among male peers (F[ 1, 132] = 2.17, p = .14) or female peers (F[1, 132] = .64, p = .43). Hypothesis two is therefore supported only for change in attitudes, not for change in beliefs.

Hypothesis Three: Effects of Sex Talk vs. Sexual Behavior

I tested hypothesis three by a similar series of MANOVAs in which sexual viewing conditions were not collapsed. Support for the hypothesis should take the form of a significant effect for viewing condition or of a significant interaction between viewing condition and perceived realism.

Hypothesis 3 was partially supported for permissive attitudes; that is, participants high in perceived realism who viewed tapes of sex talk endorsed more permissive attitudes than comparable participants who viewed neutral content (see Table 2). Although the test of the overall model approached, but did not reach, statistical significance (F [2, 128] = 2.87, p = .06), Rosenthal and Rosnow have argued that planned contrasts can still be computed (as cited in Rosenthal, 1995). A direct comparison suggests a fairly clear effect (t [46] = 3.31, p = .002).

Viewing talk about sex did affect the sexual beliefs of participants high in perceived realism. Participants high in perceived realism who viewed talk about sex estimated that significantly more of their female peers were sexually active than participants similarly high in perceived realism who viewed portrayals of sexual behaviors, with those who viewed neutral content in between the two and statistically distinct from neither (F [2, 128] = 3.49, p = .03).

There was no comparable impact for beliefs about male sexual activity. Neither the effect of viewing condition nor its interaction with perceived realism was significant for estimates of sexual activity among male peers (F [2, 128] = 2.13, p = .12, and F[2, 128] = 1.81, p = .17, respectively).

Although gender proved to be an important predictor for all outcomes, it did not interact with the experimental condition or perceived realism in predicting any outcome. Men consistently endorsed more permissive attitudes than women (F [1, 128] = 19.42, p < .001). Women consistently gave higher estimates of the proportion of their peers, both females and males, who were sexually active than did their male counterparts (F [1, 128] = 18.71, p < .001, and F [1, 128] = 23.47, p < .001, respectively). Since no interaction terms which included gender were statistically significant, it seems that men and women in the sample were similarly influenced by the sexual content they viewed.

DISCUSSION

Existing research into the effects of sexual content on television has found equivocal support for an influence on sexual attitudes and beliefs. In the present study, the nature of the messages conveyed by such content, the degree to that viewers perceive that content as realistic, and the nature of depictions of sexual content as verbal or visual in nature were explored as factors in this relationship.

There was no simple, significant relationship between viewing television content characterized by permissive sexual messages and permissive sexual attitudes or beliefs. This finding should be interpreted cautiously, however; it must be kept in mind that the viewers, in this case, are college undergraduates, most of whom are sexually experienced. Also, although this relationship was not statistically significant, it approached significance in the predicted direction.

Individuals who viewed such content and who perceived the television content they viewed as more realistic, however, were influenced by it. Those who perceive sexual content on television to be realistic were swayed in the direction of endorsing more permissive attitudes towards sex, becoming more accepting of sexual intercourse and oral sex in relationships characterized by less mutual commitment. Beliefs about female sexual activity were also found to be influenced by depictions of sexual talk; for those who perceive such content to be realistic, watching television content featuring talk about sex led to the belief that relatively more female peers are sexually active. Permissive sexual content influences the sexual attitudes of those who perceive that content as realistic, and those viewers' beliefs are also influenced by such depictions, though in ways that vary with the nature of the depictions.

The importance of perceived realism in the relationship between sexual television content and its effects on viewers is perhaps the most important finding of this study. Apparently, the perception of television content as relatively unrealistic can act as a sort of resistance to its messages. That effects of viewing were only observed in interaction with perceived realism strongly suggests that future research on the impact of sexual television content should be designed to take this variable into consideration.

The effects that were observed are consistent with the prediction that talk about sex can influence beliefs and attitudes about sex, at least among some viewers. Since talk about sex is far more prevalent on television than depictions of sexual behaviors (Kunkel et al., 1999; Kunkel et al., 2003), this suggests that television may have a more potent influence on shaping the way young people think about sex than may be commonly believed.

The fact that beliefs about men were uninfluenced but beliefs about women were influenced may be a function of the specific clips used in the experiment. Each clip in the visual sexual content condition showed or suggested a heterosexual couple engaging in sexual behavior. This is likely consistent with expectations about sex in general. The verbal sexual content clips, however, countered traditional sexual stereotypes in that they consistently depicted women as sexually permissive or aggressive: a teenage girl mocked her boyfriend for his sexual restraint (That '70s Show); another teenage girl discussed the physical pleasures of sex and encouraged another girl to become sexually active (Dawson's Creek); a woman described, with obvious relish, having sex on a first date (Ally McBeal); and another woman explained that she was so eager to have sex that when she couldn't find her intended partner, she had sex with his roommate (Friends). It seems consistent with the information processing model to expect effects to be closely tied to content; the content emphasized women's sexual activity, and the effects apparently reflected that emphasis. This reinforces the notion that the nature of the sexual messages viewed must be taken into consideration when considering the effects of viewing sexual television content.

The effects observed are particularly interesting given the age (M = 19.7, SD = .90) and sexual experience of the participants in this study. The average participant reported having more than one sexual partner in the last year (M = 1.43, SD = 2.16), although the modal participant reported only one partner in the last year. It seems likely that older, more sexually experienced individuals would have more thoroughly elaborated, well-established beliefs and attitudes about sex, making them more resistant to the influence of television sexual content. If this is the case, stronger effects would be expected among younger audiences. The fact that such effects were observed among young adults underscores the need for research into these issues among such younger audiences.

A number of factors limit the generalizability of the findings reported here. First, the sample is predominately (two thirds) female, and although gender did not interact significantly with condition in any of the tests reported here, other researchers have found that women and men often react differently to sexual media content (Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999). A more balanced sample may have allowed gender differences to be observed. In addition, the measures of sexual beliefs employed were minimal, involving only two individual items which measured beliefs very broadly. Future research should use more items which explore beliefs about a variety of behaviors in multiple relationship contexts (see Buerkel-Rothfuss & Strouse, 1993).

Perhaps most importantly, the segments selected for use in the stimuli were chosen to achieve consistency of characters and setting across conditions and consistency of message within condition and may not reflect many patterns found in sexual content on television in general. For example, as discussed above, the clips in the sex talk condition consistently contain women who are sexually assertive. The clips, then, are not necessarily representative of television content in general, nor even of sexual television content, and the findings reported above should not be so generalized. This limitation is not particularly problematic; it simply underscores the idea that young adults' attitudes and beliefs about sex can be swayed to be more consistent with those contained in the television content they view, and that this is particularly true of talk about sex.

Table 1. Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs of Participants High and Low in
Perceived Realism who Viewed or Did Not View Sexual Television Content

                                   Low Perceived Realism

                               No Sex on TV   Saw Sex on TV
                                 (n = 20)       (n = 47)

PSPS-R                         [15.50.sub.a]  [14.15.sub.a]
                                (3.75)         (6.63)
Sexually Active Female Peers    [6.90.sub.a]   [6.98.sub.a]
                                (1.48)         (1.26)
Sexually Active Male Peers      [7.85.sub.a]   [7.74.sub.a]
                                (1.57)         (1.48)

                                  High Perceived Realism

                               No Sex on TV    Saw Sex on TV
                                 (n = 25)        (n = 49)

PSPS-R                         [13.76.sub.a]   [17.75.sub.b]
                                (5.17)          (6.25)
Sexually Active Female Peers    [6.56.sub.a]    [6.78.sub.a]
                                (1.53)          (1.74)
Sexually Active Male Peers      [7.20.sub.a]    [7.65.sub.a]
                                (2.10)          (1.70)

Note. Numbers in parentheses represent standard deviations.
Values in the same row with different subscripts are
significantly different at p < .05.

Table 2. Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs for Participants High and Low in
Perceived Realism who Viewed Television with No Sexual Content, Talk
about Sex, and Sexual Behavior

                                     Low Realism

                      No Sex         Sex Acts         Sex Talk
                     (n = 20)        (n = 26)         (n = 21)

PSPS-R            [15.55.sub.ab]   [13.00.sub.a]   [15.08.sub.ab]
                   (3.75)           (6.76)          (7.06)
Sexually Active    [6.90.sub.ab]    [7.33.sub.b]    [6.69.sub.ab]
  Female Peers     (1.48)           (1.24)          (1.23)
Sexually Active    [7.85.sub.a]     [7.86.sub.a]    [7.65.sub.a]
  Male Peers       (1.57)           (1.31)          (1.62)

                                    High Realism

                     No Sex           Sex Acts        Sex Talk
                    (n = 25)          (n = 23)        (n = 25)

PSPS-R            [13.76.sub.a]    [16.68.sub.b]   [18.96.sub.b]
                   (5.17)           (6.76)          (5.70)
Sexually Active    [6.56.sub.ab]    [6.36.sub.a]    [7.17.sub.b]
  Female Peers     (1.53)           (1.78)          (1.64)
Sexually Active    [7.20.sub.a]     [7.20.sub.a]    [8.13.sub.a]
  Male Peers       (2.10)           (1.76)          (1.59)

Note. Numbers in parentheses represent standard deviations.
Values in the same row with different subscripts are
significantly different at p < .05.

I wish to thank Kris Harrison for guidance during the development of this project, and to thank Rowell Huesmann, Len Eron, and the anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Manuscript accepted August 23, 2004

Laramie D. Taylor

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Address correspondence to Laramie D. Taylor, University of Michigan, 2020 Frieze Bldg., 105 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1285: e-mail: [e-mail].