EXPOSURE TO SEXUAL MEDIA AND COLLEGE STUDENTS’ SEXUAL RISK-TAKING AND SEXUAL REGRET BY YUANYUAN ZHANG DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Kristen Harrison, Chair Professor David Tewksbury, Director of Research Professor Barbara J. Wilson Professor Travis L. Dixon, University of California, Los Angeles Abstract Sexual risk-taking represents a significant health problem among college students. Although media may play an important role in college students’ sexual risk-taking, research in this area has been sparse. Using social cognitive theory as the theoretical framework, this dissertation aimed to achieve three goals. First, the study sought to examine how exposure to sexual content in six media (i.e., television, songs, music videos, movies watched at home, movies watched in the theater, and magazines) might be related to college students’ sexual risk-taking. Second, the study investigated a list of moderators that might influence the relationship between media exposure and sexual risk-taking. Five moderators (i.e., gender [femaleness], race [whiteness], sensation seeking, positive premarital sexual attitudes, and endorsement of the sexual double standard) were proposed to strengthen the relationship, and three moderators (i.e., school performance, religiosity, and parental monitoring) were proposed to weaken the relationship. Lastly, the study explored whether sexual media exposure may be linked to sexual regret indirectly through its effect on sexual risk-taking. The main project was an online survey completed by 561college students. To assist the investigation, three subprojects were conducted beforehand. Subproject 1 employed focus group interviews to generate a measure of sexual risk-taking (i.e., hedonistic, socially destructive, voyeuristic, and nonprotective risk-taking) to be used in the main project. This new measure included a comprehensive list of risky sexual behaviors that went beyond the risks of unintended pregnancy and STIs typically examined in previous research. Subproject 2 conducted a survey to obtain sexual intensity ratings for the media offerings to be used in the main project. The last subproject analyzed the content of the same media offerings to determine the accuracy of the ratings obtained from subproject 2. ii The analyses of the main project revealed several main findings. First, exposure to sexual magazines predicted more hedonistic and voyeuristic risk-taking among college students. In fact, it was the only sexual media variable that had a direct relationship with sexual risk-taking. Second, moderating effects were found for sexual music video viewing, sexual song listening, and sexual magazine reading. While sensation seeking and positive premarital sexual attitudes functioned to strengthen the relationship between sexual media exposure and sexual risk-taking, gender (femaleness), school performance, and religiosity functioned to weaken the relationship. Third, sexual magazine reading predicted the most sexual risk-taking (i.e., hedonistic, voyeuristic, and nonprotective risk-taking), directly or indirectly through the moderating effects. Nonprotective risk-taking had the most predictors. Finally, sexual regret was not related to any sexual risk-taking subscales. Therefore, the mediating effect of sexual risk-taking on the relationship between media exposure and sexual regret was not supported. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research were discussed. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been completed without the help, encouragement and inspirations from many people. My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor, Kristen Harrison, who is an extraordinary researcher, a great mentor, and a caring friend. I am extremely grateful for all the guidance, encouragement, and generous support she has given me along the way. I am also grateful for my committee members: Dr. Travis Dixon, Dr. David Tewksbury, and Dr. Barbara Wilson. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and comments on this project, and your dedication to the highest quality of scholarly work. I would also like to express my thanks to all my professors, colleagues, administrative staff, and friends for their time, knowledge, and continued support throughout these years. Special thanks also go to my dearest mom and dad, and my parents-in-law. Your love and prayers are specially treasured in my heart. Last but in no way the least, I wish to express my gratitude to my husband, Lin Zhong, and our son, Kaifeng Zhong. It was your greatest love that got me to the finish line! iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review .........................................................................................................................................6 Theoretical Rationale and Overarching Hypothesis ....................................................................... 16 Hypotheses Regarding Moderating Variables ................................................................................... 19 Hypothesis Regarding Sexual Regret ................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2: Method ............................................................................................................................ 29 Subproject 1 – Focus Groups .................................................................................................................. 29 Subproject 2 – Survey for Sexual Intensity Ratings ......................................................................... 30 Subproject 3 – Content Analysis ............................................................................................................ 32 Main Project - Sample and Recruitment Procedure ........................................................................ 33 Design ............................................................................................................................................................ 34 Measures....................................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3: Results ............................................................................................................................. 46 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................................................ 46 Hypothesis Testing .................................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 4: Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 57 Measure of Sexual Risk Taking .............................................................................................................. 58 Direct Link between Sexual Media Exposure and Sexual Risk-Taking ...................................... 59 Moderating Effects on Sexual Media Exposure and Sexual Risk-Taking ................................... 63 Relationships between Sexual Media Exposure, Sexual Risk-Taking and Sexual Regret .... 70 Summary and Implications ..................................................................................................................... 71 Limitations and Future Research .......................................................................................................... 74 Tables and Figures ............................................................................................................................ 79 Appendix A: Scales for Risky Sexual Behavior ....................................................................... 119 Appendix B: Questionnaire .......................................................................................................... 122 Appendix C: Codebook for Sexual Content .............................................................................. 149 References ......................................................................................................................................... 151 v Chapter 1: Literature Review Introduction Exploring sexual relationships and gender-specific norms is a fundamental task involved in the social development of emergent adults, including college students (Arnett, 2000). Although an increasing interest in sex is natural at this developmental stage, sexual experimentation is frequently accompanied by sexual risk-taking (Lewis, Malow, & Ireland, 1997). Many college students have multiple sexual partners and use contraceptives inconsistently (e.g., Douglas et al., 1997; Eisenberg, 2001). Results from a national survey indicate that 35% of college students reported having had more than five lifetime sexual partners (Douglas et al., 1997). Because this data represent percent of all college students, the proportion of sexually active college students who engage in these behaviors should be even higher. In addition, while fewer than half of college