A new study from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark shows that viewing online porn or sexually explicit content in magazines has small influence on sexual behavior of teens and young adults, reports Medical News Today.
Previous studies have shown a negative impact on the sexual behaviors of teens and young adults by viewing sexually explicit content from various sources. But due to lack of adequate research and proof on this subject, concrete conclusions were not drawn.
For the new study, lead researcher Gert Martin Hald, PhD, conducted an online survey of 4,600 Dutch teens aged between 15 and 25 years old. Out of all participants, 88 percent were found to be males and 45 percent were reportedly females who had agreed to watch some form of sexually explicit material in the past year.
Although the study showed watching sexual explicit content affects teens' and young adults' sexual behavior, it also does not prove a direct link as previously thought to be right.
"Our data suggest that other factors such as personal dispositions-specifically sexual sensation seeking-rather than consumption of sexually explicit material may play a more important role in a range of sexual behaviors of young adults, and that the effects of sexually explicit media on sexual behaviors in reality need to be considered in conjunction with such factors," Dr. Hald said.
As the results of the study suggest, watching sexually explicit content was linked to sexual behaviors such as adventures of transactional sex. Viewing the results from a gender perspective, men watching sexually explicit content were more likely to be involved in "hardcore" online or print material, while women were mostly inclined toward soft-core pornography.
"These findings contribute novel information to the ongoing debates on the role of [sexually explicit material] consumption in sexual behaviors and risk, and provide appropriate guidance to policymakers and program developers concerned with sexual education and sexual health promotion for young people," the authors wrote.
The findings of the study were published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
