Author: Kunkel, Dale.; Cope, Kirstie M. Biely,
Erica. Source:
The Journal of Sex Research
v. 36 no3 (Aug. 1999) p. 230-6 ISSN: 0022-4499 Number:
BSSI99032575 Copyright: The magazine publisher is the
copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with
permission. Further reproduction of this article in
violation of the copyright is prohibited.
Sexual socialization is influenced by a wide range of
sources, including parents, peers, and the mass media (Hyde
& DeLameter, 1997). In trying to understand the process
by which young people acquire their sexual beliefs,
attitudes, and behaviors, the study of media provides
information about potential socializing messages that are an
important part of everyday life for children and adolescents
(Greenberg, Brown, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993). The
significance of media content in this realm stems from a
number of unique aspects surrounding its role in the lives
of youth, including its early accessibility and its almost
universal reach across the population.
Electronic media, and television in particular, provide a
window to many parts of the world, such as sexually-related
behavior, that would otherwise be shielded from young
audiences. Long before many parents begin to discuss sex
with their children, answers to such questions as "When
is it OK to have sex?" and "With whom does one
have sexual relations?" are provided by messages
delivered on television. These messages are hardly didactic,
most often coming in the form of scripts and plots in
fictional entertainment programs. Yet the fact that such
programs do not intend to teach sexual socialization lessons
hardly mitigates the potential influence of their
portrayals.
While television is certainly not the only influence on
sexual socialization, adolescents often report that they use
portrayals in the media to learn sexual and romantic scripts
and norms for sexual behavior (Brown, Childers, & Waszak,
1990). Indeed, four out of ten (40%) teens say they have
gained ideas for how to talk to their boyfriend or
girlfriend about sexual issues directly from media
portrayals (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998).
Just as it is well established that media exposure
influences social behaviors such as aggression and social
stereotyping, there is a growing body of evidence
documenting the possible effects of sexual content on
television (Huston, Wartella, & Donnerstein, 1998). For
example, two studies have reported correlations between
watching television programs high in sexual content and the
early initiation of sexual intercourse by adolescents (Brown
& Newcomer, 1991; Peterson, Moore, & Furstenberg,
1991), while another found heavy television viewing to be
predictive of negative attitudes toward remaining a virgin (Courtright
& Baran, 1980). An experiment by Bryant and Rockwell
(1994) showed that teens who had just viewed television
dramas laden with sexual content rated descriptions of
casual sexual encounters less negatively than teens who had
not viewed any sexual material.
Another important aspect of sexual socialization involves
the development of knowledge about appropriate preventative
behaviors to reduce the risk of infection from AIDS or other
sexually-transmitted diseases. When teenagers begin to
engage in sexual activity, they assume the risk of disease
as well as the risk of unwanted pregnancy, and it appears
that many lack adequate preparation to avoid such negative
consequences.
Two Americans under the age of 20 become infected with
HIV every hour (Office of National AIDS Policy, 1996).
Almost one million teenagers become pregnant every year in
the United States (Kirby, 1997). In the face of these
sobering statistics, it is important to consider the extent
to which media portrayals engage in or overlook concerns
such as these, which are very serious issues in the lives of
young people today.
In summary, media effects research clearly suggests that
television portrayals contribute to sexual socialization.
And despite the increasing availability of media options,
young people still devote more time to television viewing
than to any other type of mass communication (Nielsen Media
Research, 1998). Thus, if television is an important source
of information about sex, then it is important to identify
the prevailing patterns used for presenting sexual messages
on television.
In this report, we present a summary view across three
independent studies of sexual content on television that we
and our colleagues at the University of California, Santa
Barbara have recently conducted (Cope, 1998; Kunkel, Cope,
& Colvin, 1996; Kunkel et al., 1998). All of the studies
share the same conceptualization and operational definition
of sexual content, and employ many of the same measures
assessing the context surrounding sexual messages on
television. Comparing the pattern of findings across these
three studies affords a unique opportunity to identify clear
patterns in the portrayal of sexual messages on television.
METHODOLOGYThe three studies examined in this report
include the Family Hour Study (Kunkel, Cope, & Colvin,
1996), which evaluated the programs aired on broadcast
networks during the first hour of prime time; the Teen Study
(Cope, 1998), which assessed three episodes each of the 15
most popular TV series viewed by adolescents aged 12-17; and
the V-Chip Study (Kunkel et al., 1998), which compared the
V-chip rating assigned to TV programs with the actual levels
of violence, sex, and adult language found in each show.
The V-Chip Study is significantly broader in scope than
the other two projects, with a total of more than 1000
programs examined overall, and includes two distinct data
sets which we consider here separately. The first of these
encompasses most hours of the day across a full range of 10
channels (including network and independent broadcast as
well as basic and premium cable), which we label here as
V-Chip Study: Composite Week. The second sample is limited
to prime time programming on the commercial broadcast
networks, which we label here as V-Chip Study: Prime Time. A
summary of the key aspects of the sample for each of the
studies is presented in Table 1.
DEFINING AND MEASURING SEXUAL CONTENTAll of these studies
defined sexual content as any depiction of talk or behavior
that involves sexuality, sexual suggestiveness, or sexual
activities or relationships. Both heterosexual and
homosexual portrayals were included, although we do not
report these categories separately here. Sexual behavior and
talk about sex are considered fundamentally distinct
categories, and we report them separately in our findings
below.
To be considered a sexual behavior, actions must convey a
sense of potential or likely sexual intimacy. For example, a
kiss of greeting between two friends or relatives would not
be coded as sexual behavior, whereas a passionate kiss
between two characters with a discernible romantic interest
would be. The lower threshold for sexual behaviors measured
by the studies was physical flirting, which refers to
behavioral actions such as a woman licking her lips
provocatively while gazing intently at a man in a bar. This
example underscores that our measurement in this realm
encompasses the full range of sexually-related behaviors,
and should not be equated strictly with the consummate
sexual behavior of intercourse. Other behavior categories
included passionate kissing, intimate touching, sexual
intercourse strongly implied, and sexual intercourse
depicted.
Sexual dialogue, or what we term talk about sex, involves
a wide range of types of conversations that may involve
first-hand discussion of sexual interests and topics with
potential partners, as well as second-hand exchanges with
others that convey information about one's prior,
anticipated, or even desired future sexual activities. For
purposes of measuring talk about sex, the topics of both
reproductive issues (such as contraception or abortion) and
sexually-transmitted diseases (including but not limited to
AIDS) were considered as sexual.
For both the Family Hour Study and the Teen Study, a
range of different contextual features were examined. These
included relationship characteristics for people involved in
sexual behaviors, consequences of sexual behavior
experienced by characters, and the presence of any risk or
responsibility themes such as sexual patience, sexual
precautions, and depictions of the negative consequences of
sexual behavior (e.g., AIDS, STDs, unwanted pregnancy).
Measures were gathered at both the scene and the program
level.
CODING AND RELIABILITYJudgments about the programming
were recorded by undergraduate student coders, who received
between 40-60 hours of training before they began to
generate data for the projects. An elaborate codebook of
rules and examples for coding was developed at the outset of
the first project to guide the content judgments. Each of
the studies reported extensive reliability assessments,
employing a framework devised for the National Television
Violence Study (Wilson et al., 1997) which represents the
largest scientific study of television content yet
conducted.
For all three studies, reliability was assessed at two
distinct levels: (a) agreement on unitizing decisions (i.e.,
identifying sexual content within scenes) and (b) agreement
on the applicable context measures used to describe the
sexual content identified. For unitizing decisions, the
coders demonstrated CIAM (Close Interval Around the
Agreement Mode) of between 79% and 100% across all tests on
all the studies.(FN1) For identifying types of talk about
sex and sexual behavior, the agreement ranged from 83% to
100%. Agreement on other scene-level measures ranged from
90% to 100%, and agreement on program-level variables ranged
from 76% to 100%. Overall, given the large number of coders
involved and the complexity of the coding tasks, the
reliability analyses establish strong confidence in the
consistency of the data reported in the studies.
RESULTSTALK ABOUT SEXWe start our assessment of sexual
content by addressing the question of what proportion of
television programs contain talk about sex. The data make
clear that a majority of programs on television include some
such material. The most broad-based sample is found in the
V-Chip Study: Composite Week, which includes all programs
aired between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. across both boradcast and
cable channels with the exception of news and sports. This
study indicates that 57% of programs contain talk about sex,
with those shows averaging more than two (2.3) scenes per
hour with such content (see Table 2).
Data from the V-Chip Study: Prime Time indicate that
prime time network programs are somewhat more likely to
include talk about sex, with two of every three shows (67%)
including some. Programs most popular with teens contain
talk about sex just as frequently (67%) as prime time shows
overall, while programs that air in the first hour of prime
time (Family Hour Study) have nearly the same proportion
(59%) that include talk about sex.
Table 2 also makes clear that talk about people's
prospective interests in sex is the predominant type of
exchange portrayed on television. Conversation in this
category may address specific targets of sexual interest,
either for the self or others, or may involve general
statements or views on sexual topics or issues that guide
one's sexual behavior. Such comments account for nearly
three-fourths (74% and 72%) of all talk about sex in the two
V-chip Study samples, although they are not quite as
frequent in the Family Hour Study (59%) and Teen Study (62%)
data.
Example: Talk about prospective sexual interests.
After attending a class on sexual harassment, the office
workers grow paranoid about a new "no tolerance"
policy. Matt is frustrated because he has romantic interests
for Jana, one of the women in his office. In front of the
entire staff, he loudly declares his affection for her.
"I like you. I like you a lot and it's okay if you like
me too." She replies earnestly, "I just want to
sleep with you!" Matt encourages the other staff
members to express their true sexual feelings. Jana invites
Matt for an apparent tryst, asking "Do you want to go
to the edit room?" He responds eagerly and they scurry
off holding hands. Another man asks the girl standing next
to him, "Supply closet?" She nods and he wraps his
arm around her, leading the way. Suddenly, everyone leaves
the room coupled with the exception of one fellow who sees
the last two women remaining in the corner. Trying to look
suave, he struts over to them and makes a sexual advance. He
alone receives a rejection. (Working, NBC, November 12,
1997).
The other common type of talk about sex involves comments
about sexual experiences that have already occurred, which
account for between 18-21% of all cases across the different
studies.
Example: Talk about past sexual experiences.
Jerry, George, and Elaine are among a crowd in a church,
awaiting the start of a friend's wedding ceremony. Earlier
in the day, George learned that Jerry had previously slept
with George's date for the wedding, a woman named Nina. As
they all sit and wait for the ceremony to begin, George
grows angry thinking about the situation, and says quietly
to Jerry that he demands "reparations" to even the
score. Since Jerry has slept with Nina, and Nina is George's
date, George insists that he should be allowed to sleep with
Jerry's date, Elaine. Elaine then joins the conversation and
says she absolutely will not sleep with George, and what is
the difference who slept with who? Elaine whispers to
George, "Nina slept with him, he slept with me, and I
slept with Pinter," referring to the man getting
married. "Nobody cares," adds Elaine. George
responds at the top of his voice, "You slept with the
groom?" The crowd gasps in shock and the wedding is
disrupted. (Seinfeld, NBC, November 20, 1997).
Interestingly, comments classified as expert advice or
technical information, which could range from a visit with a
doctor to a news magazine feature on sexual issues, appear
only rarely. These cases accounted for 5-6% of all talk
about sex in the Family Hour Study and Teen Study. The two
program samples from the V-Chip Study yielded even fewer
scenes with such material, although this is likely due to
the exclusion of news programming from this research (i.e.,
such material is exempt from the industry's V-chip system
for rating programs).
SEXUAL BEHAVIORWe now turn to the second major aspect of
sexual content, and address the question of what proportion
of television programs contain sexual behaviors. The data
here are more complicated to interpret because of a
methodological shift that was implemented for the V-Chip
Study. The Family Hour Study and the Teen Study reported all
sexual behaviors that were observed in every program. In
contrast, the V-Chip Study measured sexual behaviors only
when they were judged to be the primary emphasis of the
scene in which they were located. This more conservative
approach was pursued for the V-Chip Study so that we could
be confident that a sexual scene identified by our measures
would be significant enough to warrant identification by an
S content rating symbol, which indicates sexual content in
the new television industry rating system.
When all aspects of each program are taken into account,
including minor events within scenes, we see that a solid
majority of shows (61% for Family Hour Study; 62% for Teen
Study) include some sexual behavior (see Table 3). In
contrast, when only scenes with a primary emphasis on sexual
behavior are considered (V-Chip Study), the proportion
shrinks substantially to 28% of all programs examined. These
two perspectives are actually complementary, and enrich our
understanding of the content. Certainly, the primary
emphasis scenes would be more likely candidates for
influence on the audience, yet the cumulative presence of
the minor portrayals may also contribute to socialization
effects, particularly when consistent patterns are found
across large samples of programming.
The V-Chip Study findings, which we again note are based
on the broadest sample of program content, establish that,
on the whole, television includes more than one scene per
hour with a major focus on sexual behavior. Yet while the
depiction of sexual behaviors is relatively common on
television, the vast majority of the behaviors portrayed are
what we term precursory in nature. They consist of physical
flirting, passionate kissing, and intimate touch meant to
arouse sexual interest. Such actions account for 86-97% of
all sexual behaviors shown across each of our studies (see
Figure 1).
Example: Precursory sexual behavior.
Rob and Gina, two young adults, meet at a party where
they are introduced by their friends. Rob has recently split
up from his girlfriend and Gina is unattached and looking to
meet someone. They immediately like one another and spend
the party talking and laughing together before deciding to
leave and go back to Rob's apartment. Once inside, they
begin kissing passionately and convey their intent to sleep
together when they are interrupted by Rob's ex-girlfriend
knocking at the door. (Almost Perfect, CBS, March 3, 1996).
Although scenes with sexual intercourse represent only a
modest proportion of all of the sexually-related behaviors
shown on television, the presence of intercourse on TV is
nonetheless quite substantial. The frequency with which
programs included one or more scenes with intercourse
depicted or strongly implied held remarkably stable across
all four of the data points in the three studies reviewed
here, at 12-13% of all shows (see Table 3). In other words,
roughly one of every eight shows sampled in each of our
studies presented characters engaging in sexual intercourse.
In order for a portrayal to be considered an example of
intercourse strongly implied, a scene must depict a couple's
actions immediately before or after an act of intercourse
that is clearly inferred by narrative device. For example, a
couple might be shown passionately kissing as they undress
one another in a darkened bedroom, followed by a
fade-to-black that then leads to a scene in which the couple
awaken in each other's arms the next morning. In contrast,
scenes are classified as intercourse depicted if any portion
of the body of those engaged in sexual intercourse is shown
while the act is occurring. Such depictions need not be
explicit in terms of nudity, as discreet camera views may
focus close-up on the face, or the upper torso may be shown
with the lower body partially covered by a sheet.
Example: Sexual intercourse strongly implied.
Michael and Kimberly, two young lovers, are in bed
together, apparently naked but with their bodies discreetly
covered by disheveled sheets. He sighs and says, "What
a great way to spend an afternoon." She replies,
"Do you realize that's all we've been doing
lately?" Kimberly tells Michael she is concerned that
he might find sex with her boring because he has had so many
previous lovers. She asks how they could spice things up.
Michael explains a fantasy he would like to act out with him
as a plumber and Kimberly as a 'hot-to-trot housewife. They
agree to act out the fantasy tomorrow. (Melrose Place, Fox,
March 4, 1996).
Scenes in which sexual intercourse is strongly implied
represent the most common approach for television stories to
convey that love-making has occurred (see Figure 2). Again,
the consistency across studies in the findings is remarkably
stable, with the range holding between 83-89% of all
instances of intercourse on television. This approach seems
to be the standard formula for incorporating sexual
intercourse within television plots while still leaving most
of the details to the viewer's imagination.
IMPORTANT CONTEXTUAL FEATURESThe nature of the
relationship between individuals who engage in sexual
behaviors (including but not limited to intercourse) on
television may offer important socialization lessons for
young viewers. Two of our projects, the Family Hour Study
and Teen Study, examined this topic. First, our data
indicate that most sexually-related behaviors involve
unmarried couples (71% for the Family Hour Study; 79% for
the Teen Study). Though unmarried, most characters who
engage in these behaviors have an established relationship
with their partner (67% for the Family Hour Study; 71% for
the Teen Study). Nonetheless, relationship infidelity, or
cheating, also occurs occasionally, accounting for between
10% (Teen Study) and 17% (Family Hour Study) of the sexual
behaviors observed overall.
One of the most potentially important contextual factors
is the extent to which the risks or responsibilities
associated with human sexual activity are presented on
television. The depiction of sexual risk concerns in
television content holds obvious potential for raising the
salience of these issues in the eyes of viewers, in
particular with young audiences who have more limited
experience with sexual topics.
Here again the Family Hour Study and Teen Study provide
us with data. We measured the presence of three possible
types of risk or responsibility themes: (a) sexual patience,
waiting until a relationship matures and both people are
equally ready to engage in sex; (b) sexual precaution,
pursuing efforts to prevent AIDS, STDs, and/or unwanted
pregnancy when sexually active; and (c) depiction of risks
and/or negative consequences of unplanned or irresponsible
sexual behavior. The presence of such themes was measured
both at the level of individual scenes as well as across
programs as a whole.
Table 4 presents a summary of our findings on the
treatment of risk or responsibility concerns amidst all of
the sexual messages found on television. In general, the
predominant share of sexual messages on television are
conveyed without any element of risk or responsibility
concerns. Fewer than one of every 10 scenes presenting some
sexually-related behavior (8% for the Family Hour Study; 3%
for the Teen Study) included any reference at all to these
issues. The treatment of risk topics was slightly more
common in scenes that contained only talk about sex (10% for
the Family Hour Study; 14% for the Teen Study), particularly
in the programs most popular with teens.
Several of the examples of risk and responsibility
messages found in scenes from teen programming focused on
pro-social messages such as waiting until one is ready to
have sex.
Example: Sexual patience.
Zachary and his girlfriend Chloe, two high-school-aged
teens, are making out on the couch. Zach wants to have sex
but Chloe isn't sure that she's ready. He moves his hand
under her shirt and she pushes it away. Frustrated, he asks
"What is it now?" Chloe replies "A month from
now I don't want to be taking a pregnancy test." Zach
says he will use protection but Chloe says she's afraid
because protection is never 100% effective. A friend of
Chloe's recently thought she was pregnant and now Chloe is
scared of being in the same predicament. Zach says,
"It's OK. I can wait. As long as it takes. I can wait.
I don't want you to do something you're not ready to
do." (Malibu Shores, NBC, March 30. 1996).
This scene provides a good example of a pro-social
message regarding human sexuality. Chloe, recognizing the
dangers of becoming sexually active even with the use of
birth control, asserts her right to wait until she's ready.
Her boyfriend, frustrated at first, respects her wishes.
Across both studies, fewer than one of every ten shows
with sexual content (6% for the Family Hour Study; 9% for
the Teen Study) placed primary emphasis on a risk or
responsibility concern throughout the show. Programs which
qualified on this measure addressed such serious,
life-altering outcomes of sex as unwanted pregnancy and
abortion, as well as persistent anxiety about the prospect
of contracting AIDS from unprotected sexual intercourse.
Interestingly, however, none of the shows that featured
intercourse depicted or strongly implied across both studies
(N = 21) included any mention of risk or responsibility
concerns at any point in the program.
DISCUSSIONAs with most other aspects of media influence,
the effect of viewing sexual content on television is not
thought to be direct and powerful, with a single exposure to
a particular program leading a viewer to think or act in any
given way. Rather, the effects of televised messages about
sex are conceptualized more as the product of a slow and
cumulative process. Because such influence tends to be
gradual in nature, it is the overall pattern of messages
across the television landscape that is of primary interest
for explaining the effects of long-term exposure.
Across these three studies, we see convergence on a
number of key findings. First, sexually-related messages are
a common element in television entertainment. The data we
have reported here suggest that the odds are better than
50-50 that any given program on television will include some
talk about sex. In contrast, the odds are about one in four
that a given program will contain a scene devoting primary
emphasis to one or more sexual behaviors. While both of
these findings support the conclusion that sexual messages
are an everyday aspect of television content, they also make
clear that talk about sex appears far more often than the
portrayal of sexually-related behaviors.
Talk about sex is included in these content studies
because of its socialization potential to convey information
about sexual norms, practices, motives, and the like even
when no overt sexual activity is directly involved. Indeed,
research confirms that this talk is meaningful for
adolescents in helping to shape their perceptions about
sexual matters (Ward, 1999).
Television industry officials sometimes criticize
academic studies of sex on TV, asserting that behaviors like
flirting or kissing are not what "reasonable
people" think of as sex (Farhi, 1998). Of course, just
as talk about sex conveys information about sexual
relationships, so too may these precursory behaviors that
typically precede the act of intercourse in an evolving
sexual relationship. However, even if one were to restrict
the definition of sex on television to only those instances
in which intercourse is included in the program's plot, it
can still be concluded that sex on TV is commonplace. Across
four different samples encompassing more than 1200 programs,
we consistently found that the odds are about one in eight
that a given program on television will include sexual
intercourse either depicted or strongly implied.
It is this relatively common occurrence of intercourse
that makes the issue of risk and responsibility concerns
particularly salient. Our data indicate that themes such as
sexual patience, sexual precuations, and serious negative
consequences from sexual behavior remain highly infrequent
on television. This finding is hardly novel, as other
studies which have examined these issues have produced
similar results (Greenberg & Buselle, 1996; Lowry &
Shidler, 1993).
The one encouraging sign in our data is that the programs
most popular with adolescent audiences show some indication
of addressing these issues more frequently than other shows.
Nearly one of every ten programs with sexual content in the
Teen Study placed primary emphasis on a risk or
responsibility issue throughout the show, and roughly one of
every seven scenes of talk about sex included some mention
of risk concerns. As portrayals of this type become more
prevalent, they would be expected to contribute to greater
awareness of the risks of human sexual activity in the eyes
of adolescents, and perhaps even the normalizing of
preventative behaviors (e.g., use of condoms) when teens
engage in intercourse.
Our next step in this research program is to employ the
composite week design to sample a broad range of television
programming (as was done with the V-Chip Study), and subject
it to more extensive analysis for sexual messages,
emphasizing risk and responsibility concerns in particular.
This study (Kunkel et al., 1999), which is supported by a
grant from the Kaiser Family Foundation, will provide a
benchmark for tracking sexual content on television over
time, and is expected to be repeated on a biennial basis in
the future.
In conclusion, sexual content is a common, if not
prevalent, aspect of the overall television landscape.
Portrayals of talk about sex, as well as sexually-related
behaviors, are a potential source of socialization for most
young viewers. Although most sexual behaviors shown on
television are relatively modest, intercourse is frequently
included. Collectively, these sexual messages provide an
opportunity for the television industry to communicate an
important and realistic view of the true risks associated
with human sexual activity. Our research suggests that this
opportunity has not yet been tapped very often by most
segments of the industry.
Added material.
Dale Kunkel, Kirstie M. Cope, and Erica Biely University
of California Santa Barbara.
The Family Hour Study was supported by the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation (Menlo Park, CA) and Children Now
(Oakland, CA). The Teen Study was the Master's Thesis for
Kirstie M. Cope. The V-Chip Study was supported by the Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The authors wish to thank
Carolyn Colvin, Ed Donnerstein, Wendy Jo Farinola, Ulla
Foehr, Jim Potter, Vicky Rideout, and Emma Rollin, each of
whom made significant contributions to one or more of the
studies summarized here.
Address correspondence to Dr. Dale Kunkel, Department of
Communication. University of California Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, CA 93106; e-mail: kunkel@alishaw.ucsb.edu.
Table 1. Summary of Sample Characteristics Across
Studies.
(TABLE) Family Hour Study Teen Study V-Chip Study:
Composite Week V-Chip Study: Prime-TimeSample design First
hour of prime-time Teens Top 15 shows Composite Week (7 a.m.
- 11 p.m.) Prime-time (8 - 11 p.m.)Channels Commercial
broadcast Commercial broadcast Full range of broadcast
Commercial broadcast networks networks and cable channels
networksYear shows aired 1996 1996 1997-1998 1997-1998Number
of programs 182 45 840 245Number of hours 84 28.5 828 209.5.
Note: V-Chip Study excluded news and sports programs
because these categories are exempted from the TV industry's
rating system.
Table 2. Frequency and Distribution of Talk About Sex.
(TABLE) Family Hour Study Teen Study V-Chip Study:
Composite Week V-Chip Study: Prime-Time Frequency of Talk
About SexPercentage of programs with any talk about sex 59%
67% 57% 67%Average scenes per hour n/a 2.8 2.3 2.9Total
number of programs 128 45 840 245 Distribution of Types of
Talk About SexTalk about prospective interests 59% 62% 74%
72%Talk about past sexual experiences 21% 20% 18% 21%Expert
advice/technical info 5% 6% 1% 0%Other 15% 12% 7% 6%Number
of cases 261 95 2203 722.
Table 3. Frequency of Sexual Behavior Within Programs.
(TABLE) Family Hour Study Teen Study V-Chip Study:
Composite Week V-Chip Study: Prime-TimePercentage of
programs with any sexual behavior 61% 62% 28%(FNa)
28%(FNb)Average scenes per hour with any sexual behavior n/a
2.2 1.2 1.1Percentage of programs with sexual intercourse
depicted or strongly implied 12% 13% 12% 12%Total number of
programs 128 45 840 245.
FOOTNOTESa Family Hour Study and Teen Study included
major as well as minor depictions of sexual behavior. The
V-Chip Studies reported only major depictions. When minor
depictions are included, this statistic increases to 42%.
b When minor depictions are included, this statistic
increases to 44%.
Table 4. Treatment of Sexual Risk or Responsibility
Concerns.
(TABLE) Family Hour Study Teen StudyPercentage of talk-onlyscenes
with risk orresponsibility 10% 14%Total number of talk
scenes 182 80Percentage of behaviorscenes with risk or
responsibility 8% 3%Total number of behavior scenes 267
99Percentage of programs with sexualcontent that place
primary emphasison risk or responsibility 6% 9%Total number
of programs 128 45.
Figure 1. Percentage of Sexual Behaviors That are
Precursory.
Figure 2. Use of Different Approaches for Portraying
Intercourse.
FOOTNOTE1 The Close Interval Around the Agreement Mode (CIAM)
is a technique for assessing reliability of media content
coding when large numbers of coders are employed to make
conceptually-based unitizing judgments at multiple levels of
analysis (Potter et al., 1998). The Agreement Mode refers to
the number of identical scenes within a program that the
greatest number of coders recognize as containing the
relevant content, which in this case is sexual talk or
behavior. The Close Interval is defined as +/- 1 from the
Agreement Mode for most programs. This technique was devised
for use in the National Television Violence Study (Wilson et
al., 1997). which explicates the development of the
procedures in much greater detail. This approach reflects
the most current methodological innovation for calculating
reliability across large numbers of coders who are rendering
content-based judgments at multiple levels of analysis.
REFERENCESBrown, J. D., Childers, K. W., & Waszak, C.
S. (1990). Television and adolescent sexuality. Journal of
Adolescent Health Care, 11, 62-70.
Brown, J. D., & Newcomer, S. F. (1991). Television
viewing and adolescents' sexual behavior. Journal of
Homosexuality, 21, 77-91.
Bryant, J., & Rockwell, S. C. (1994). Effects of
massive exposure to sexually oriented prime-time television
programming on adolescents' moral judgment. In D. Zillman,
J. Bryant, & A. C. Huston (Eds.), Media, children, and
the family: Social scientific, psychodynamic, and clinical
perspectives (pp. 183-195). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cope, K. M. (1998). Sexually-related talk and behavior in
the shows most frequently viewed by adolescents. Unpublished
master's thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Courtright, J. A., & Baran, S. J. (1980). The
acquisition of sexual information by young people.
Journalism Quarterly, 1, 107-114.
Farhi, P. (1998, October 21). Most new TV ratings
missing, study finds. Washington Post, p. B7.
Greenberg, B. S., Brown, J. D., & Buerkel-Rothfuss,
N. L. (1993). Media, sex, and the adolescent. City, NJ:
Hampton Press.
Greenberg, B., & Buselle, R. (1996). Soap operas and
sexual activity: A decade later. Journal of Communication,
46, 153-160.
Huston, A. C., Wartella, E., & Donnerstein, E.
(1998). Measuring the effects of sexual content in the
media. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Hyde, J. S., & DeLameter, J. (1997). Understanding
human sexuality (6th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Kaiser Family Foundation (1998). Kaiser Family Foundation
and YM Magazine national survey of teens: Teens talk about
dating, intimacy, and their sexual experiences. Menlo Park,
CA: author.
Kirby, D. (1997). No easy answers: Research findings on
programs to reduce teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Kunkel, D., Cope, K. M., & Colvin, C. (1996). Sexual
messages on family hour television: Content and context.
Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kunkel, D., Cope, K. M., Farinola, W. J. M., Biely, E.,
Rollin, E., & Donnerstein, E. (1999). Sex on TV: Content
and context. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kunkel, D., Farinola, W. J. M., Cope, K. M., Donnerstein,
E., Biely, E., & Zwarun, L. (1998). Rating the TV
ratings: An assessment of the television industry's use of
V-chip ratings. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Lowry, D. T., & Shidler, J. A. (1993). Prime-time TV
portrayals of sex, "safe sex" and AIDS: A
longitudinal analysis. Journalism Quarterly, 70, 628-637.
Nielsen Media Research (1998). 1998 report on television.
New York: author.
Office of National AIDS Policy (1996, March). Youth &
HIV/AIDS: An American agenda. Washington, DC: author.
Peterson, J. L., Moore, K. A., & Furstenberg, F. F.
(1991). Television viewing and early initiation of sexual
intercourse: Is there a link? Journal of Homosexuality, 21,
93-119.
Potter, W. J., Linz, D., Wilson, B., Kunkel, D.,
Donnerstein, E., Smith, S., & Blumenthal, E. (1998).
Content analysis of entertainment television: New
methodological developments. In J. Hamilton (Ed.), Media
violence and public policy (pp. 55-103). Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press.
Ward, L. M., & Rivadeneyra, R. (1999). Contributions
of entertainment television to adolescents' sexual attitudes
and expectations: The role of viewing amount versus viewer
involvement. The Journal of Sex Research, 36, 237-249.
Wilson, B., Kunkel, D., Linz, D., Potter, W. J.,
Donnerstein, E., Smith, S., Blumenthal, E., & Gray, T.
(1997). Violence in television programming overall:
University of California Santa Barbara study. In National
Television Violence Study: Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Manuscript accepted April 14, 1999.