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April 09, 2014

Study: Teens Share Views on Sex, Porn Regardless of Gender

LOS ANGELES—Results from a new study conducted in Sweden indicate that "teen boys and girls fantasize about the same things. Not only that, but teenage girls are more interested in pornography than conventional thinking leads us to believe." That despite the fact the study, which polled 800 Swedish 16-year-olds, also found that boys accessed porn more often than girls and thought about it more often as well. According to Time, "Based on the findings, there are no differences between the number of teen males and females who say their sexual behavior is influenced by pornography in a big way (which, might not be a good thing). Unsurprisingly the teens that do watch pornography have more favorable attitudes towards it in general." Published in the April issue of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the study abstract describes the researchers' objectives: "The study investigated the differences between high school boys and girls in: (1) the use of pornography, (2) sexual experiences, (3) experience of sexual abuse, and (4) perceptions of sexuality and pornography. It also examined the possible predictors of experiencing sexual activities, such as sex, sociodemographic factors (high school program, household, and ethnic background), pornography consumption, experience of sexual abuse, perception of sexuality, and perception of pornography." Results were: "Almost all boys (96%, n = 453) and 54% of the girls (n = 213) had watched pornography. Regardless of sex, pornography consumers had a positive perception of pornography. There were no differences between pornography-consuming boys and girls regarding fantasies, and they had attempted sexual acts inspired by pornography. A higher proportion of girls (15%) than boys (6%) had experienced sexual abuse. Predictors for being sexually experienced (oral sex, intercourse, and anal sex) included: being a girl, attending a vocational high school program, living with separated parents, having experience of sexual abuse, stating that boys and girls are equally interested in sex, and having a positive perception of pornography (Adj. R2 = 0.166). The conclusion states succinctly, "Boys had more experience of and a more positive perception of pornography, but there were only a few differences between boys and girls in the pornography-consumer group. Girls were more sexually experienced than boys. A positive perception of pornography predicted being sexually experienced." Despite some concern on the part of Time that teen interest in porn must be a bad thing, Alexandra Sifferlin notes optimistically at the end of her piece, "The teens in the study who were sexually active did hold the perception that males and females are equally interested in sex. And that’s a pretty non-traditional view, and as the researchers conclude, a positive attitude for gender equality." However, the teens in the study are Swedish, and likely to have been exposed to more sophisticated sex education than their American counterparts, especially if the American kids live in a state like Mississippi. In that sense, one might want to hesitate before extrapolating the findings to teens in general, and especially ones whose education, cultural upbringing and exposure to religious influences are so different.

 
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