Rates, Age, & Impact of Exposure to Pornography
Young People’s Views on Pornography and Their Sexual Development, Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research
Open Access: No.
Abstract
This synthesis of 30 qualitative studies examined young people’s views on pornography related to their sexual health. Synthesis revealed pornography use is considered normal by young people, reinforced by its usefulness as a tool for pleasure, information, and instruction in the absence of sufficient sexuality education. However, youth can become distressed by misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or violent pornography content. Youth lack spaces to discuss pornography with trusted adults, leaving them to manage their use without support and potentially leading to harmful attitudes and unrealistic expectations about sex. Implications include the need for additional research and increased access to inclusive sexuality education.
Relevance
Young people consider pornography a “normal” part of their sexual development, which “is reinforced by a failure of sexuality education to sufficiently meet young people’s sexual development needs.” This is especially true for young people “whose identities are absent from mainstream sexuality education and dominant culture.”
“Simultaneously, young people can become distressed by graphic, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or violent content and may struggle to reconcile messages they receive from pornography with their own values or the values of their families, communities, or society at large.”
Young people, too, “lack spaces to discuss and process what they see in pornography.”
The authors of the study “noted a lack of support mechanisms, including parents and schools, where young people could discuss negative encounters with pornography and hear alternative narratives to misogynistic, racist, and violent themes in pornography.” The “lack of alternative narratives to messages in pornography may also reinforce harmful attitudes about women, LGBTQþ people, and people of color and lead to unrealistic expectations and harmful behaviors related to sex.”
“Several study authors noted gaps in young people’s ability to manage pornography consumption.”
Young people “reported concerns that pornography normalized violence, translating to a perception that watching pornography could lead to harassment, coercion and assault perpetration.”
Citation
Peterson, A. J., Silver, G. K., Bell, H. A., Guinosso, S. A., & Coyle, K. K. (2023). Young people’s views on pornography and their sexual development, attitudes, and behaviors: A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 18(2), 171–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2022.2096163
