ABSTRACT
Sexual media messages play an important role in adolescents’ sexual development. Such messages are embedded in both mass media (i.e., television, music, video games, and pornography) and user-generated digital media (i.e., social media, and sexting). The current chapter provides an overview of attitudinal (e.g., gender stereotypical beliefs) and behavioral implications (e.g., risky sexual behaviors) of adolescents’ exposure to social media messages (SMM) in mass media and user-generated digital media. We further pay attention to the conditionality and indirect nature of these sexual media effects. The literature points to challenges and future directions in the field of sexual media effects. Particularly, future research is advised to account for adolescents’ media multitasking when exploring sexual media effects. Also, we encourage research to explore possible beneficial outcomes of sexual media uses, in addition to negative outcomes. Lastly, we call for the employment of experimental, experience sampling methods (ESM), and longitudinal study designs and the integration of open science practices in the field.
