Sexuality Education & Therapy with Children
Does Asking Adolescents About Pornography Make Them Use It? A Test of the Question–Behavior Effect.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
Longitudinal survey design is the preferred method for the robust assessment of outcomes associated with socially undesirable or potentially harmful sexual behaviors. However, repeated measurement may induce the question-behavior effect (QBE)-the phenomenon where asking about a behavior changes the probability of engaging in the behavior in the future. Using an online panel sample of Croatian adolescents (Mage at baseline = 15.8, SD = .50), the present study explored the QBE in the context of adolescent pornography use. To this end we compared the frequency of pornography use six months after the initial survey (T2) between adolescents who participated in both baseline (T1) and T2 survey assessments (n = 1,053; 41% of males) and those who began the study at T2 (n = 130; 42% of males). In line with the findings from a recent Dutch study, we found no evidence that surveying adolescent pornography consumption increased participants’ reports of subsequent use. Implications of the findings for studying pornography use in young people are discussed.
Relevance
In an era of growing social concern over adolescents’ and young people’s pornography use…the results of the current study further support the view that asking adolescents about their pornography does not increase their subsequent use.
Citation
Koletić, G., Cohen, N., Štulhofer, A., & Kohut, T. (2019). Does Asking Adolescents About Pornography Make Them Use It? A Test of the Question-Behavior Effect. Journal of sex research, 56(2), 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2018.1501549
