Young Adult Audiences' Perceptions of Mediated
Mediated Sexuality and Teen Pregnancy: Exploring The Secret Life Of The American Teenager A thesis submitted to the College of Communication and Information of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Nicole D. Reamer August, 2012 Thesis written by Nicole D. Reamer B.A., The University of Toledo, 2007 M.A., Kent State University, 2012 Approved by Jeffrey T. Child, Ph.D., Advisor Paul Haridakis, Ph.D., Director, School of Communication Studies Stanley T. Wearden, Ph.D., Dean, College of Communication and Information Table of Contents Page TABLE OF CONTENTS iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 TV and Socialization of Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs Among Young Adults 1 The Secret Life of the American Teenager 3 Teens, Sex, and the Media 4 II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 7 Social Cognitive Theory 7 Research from a Social Cognitive Framework 11 Program-specific studies 11 Sexually-themed studies 13 Cultivation Theory 14 Research from a Cultivation perspective 16 The Adolescent Audience and Media Research 17 Sexuality in the Media 19 Alternative Media 20 Film and Television 21 Focus of this Study 27 III. METHODOLOGY 35 Sample Selection 35 Coding Procedures 36 Coder Training 37 Coding Process 39 Sexually Oriented Content 39 Overall Scene Content 40 Target 41 Location 42 Topic or Activity 43 Valence 44 Demographics 45 Analysis 46 IV. RESULTS 47 Sexually Oriented Content 47 Overall Scene Content 48 Target 48 iii Location 50 Topic or Activity 51 Valence 52 Topic Valence Variation by Target 54 V. DISCUSSION 56 Summary of Findings and Implications 58 Target and Location 59 Topic and Activity 63 Valence 65 Study Limitations 67 Future Directions 68 Audience Involvement 69 Conclusion 71 APPENDICES A.
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