A longitudinal exploration of the relationship between pornography use and sexual permissiveness in female and male adolescents

Abstract

IntroductionThere are concerns that pornography use increases adolescents' sexual permissiveness, leading to sexual risk-taking. In contrast to most longitudinal explorations of the relationship between adolescent pornography use and sexual permissiveness, which were carried out in highly liberal and permissive societies, we aimed to re-assess the target relationship in a more traditional, highly religious society. MethodsInformed by the social learning and selective exposure theoretical underpinnings, we used two independent panels of Croatian female and male adolescents (on average 16 years old) to assess the association over 18 and 24 months. Online surveying was used in the Zagreb (n = 372) and classroom-based surveying in the Rijeka panels (n = 753). ResultsParticipants reported relatively low levels of permissiveness, but substantial pornography use—particularly adolescent men. Contrary to earlier studies, we observed no significant paths leading from pornography use to sexual permissiveness. The paths leading from sexual permissiveness to pornography use were significant only among female participants in the Zagreb sample and male participants in the Rijeka sample. However, significant and positive covariances between the two constructs suggested the role of unobserved variables. ConclusionsIn line with the selective exposure hypothesis and the integrative models, this study's findings challenge the notion that pornography use increases sexual permissiveness among adolescents. Although this is reassuring, comprehensive sexuality education and media literacy programs remain important tasks for educational policy in the Information age.