Is Sexual Consent Sexy?: Investigating the Effects of a Televised Depiction of Verbal Sexual Consent on College Students' Sexual Consent Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions.

Although depictions of sexual consent are rare in the media, such portrayals have the potential to instruct young people on the procedural details of sexual consent. Taking an entertainment-education (E-E) perspective, we examined the effects of a televised depiction of sexual consent that contained verbal sexual consent, versus a televised depiction that only included nonverbal sexual consent, versus a no-exposure control group to test for changes in college students' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward sexual consent. In the pretest-posttest experimental design, those who were assigned to the nonverbal video condition reported less favorable attitudes about sexual consent between pretest and posttest. Additionally, interpersonal liking was an important facilitator of the E-E impact of the verbal sexual consent condition; the more the participants liked the characters in the verbal condition, the more positively about sexual consent they felt and the more likely they were to plan to engage in sexual consent. Narrative engagement did not mediate the effects of experimental condition on sexual consent attitudes and behavioral intentions. The implications for E-E are discussed.

COVID-19 Vaccines #ForYou: Analyzing COVID-19 Vaccine Videos on TikTok During the Early Phase of the Vaccine Rollout in the U.S.

This study examined COVID-19 vaccine videos on TikTok (n = 216 collected in March 2021) during the early days of the vaccine rollout in the U.S., including video source, overall stance toward COVID-19 vaccines, Health Belief Model (HBM)-related content, message features (i.e. humor, video type, message sensation value, on-screen text, and unoriginal sound), and user engagement indices (number of views, shares, comments, and likes). Regarding source, health professionals and general users were two of the main sources, which varied depending on video stance. Pro-vaccine videos occurred the most often from health professionals whereas anti-vaccine videos occurred the most often from general users. Health professionals (vs. general users) generated more views, shares, comments, and likes. Regarding stance, we found more pro- than anti-vaccine videos (57.9% vs. 37.5%). Stance was not related with any user engagement index. Though many videos were pro-vaccine, the content corresponding to HBM-specified factors, which likely facilitate a positive behavioral change, was largely lacking, such as mentions of COVID-19 severity (5.6%), susceptibility (2.8%) and information boosting vaccination self-efficacy (3.7%). Mentions of side effects (34%) emerged as the major vaccination barrier. HBM-related mentions were not related with any user engagement index. COVID-19 vaccine videos used several features, which varied across stance. Pro-vaccine videos featured more musical performance, while anti-vaccine videos used more humor, playacting, sound effects, and unoriginal sound. Several message features (e.g. humor and on-screen text) were positively associated with users' engagement with a video. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Birds of a feather flocking together on Instagram: How racially similar followers and followings on Instagram are linked to young women's body image.

In light of recent studies demonstrating the detrimental effects of social media use on young women's body image, we examined the racial composition of young women's Instagram followers, as well as the racial composition of the individuals in young women's followed Instagram accounts, in relation to their appearance ideals and body image. Based on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), we tested two main propositions. First, women who have racially similar followers and followed accounts will be more likely to internalize body ideal preferences that are relevant to their in-group (i.e., thinness for Asian-American and White women; curviness for Black and Latina women). Second, following and being followed by people of one's racial identity in-group will have ameliorative effects on young women's body image (i.e., more body appreciation; less body dissatisfaction). Our sample included 533 U.S. women who identified as Asian-American (n = 97), Black (n = 101), Latina (n = 98), or White (n = 237). The results provided more support for the notion that racially similar followers and accounts followed are related to better body image outcomes rather than to the internalization of body ideals. Specifically, following a higher percentage of racially similar accounts was positively associated with body appreciation among Asian-American and White participants and negatively associated with body dissatisfaction among Asian-American participants. Likewise, being followed by a higher percentage of racially similar others was positively associated with body appreciation among Asian-American, Black, and White participants, and negatively associated with body dissatisfaction among Latina participants. The findings are discussed in light of social identity theory.

The Heterosexual Script on Tween, Teen, and Young-Adult Television Programs: A Content Analytic Update and Extension.

In a well-cited 2007 paper in Journal of Sex Research, Kim and colleagues proposed and documented a heterosexual script on primetime television. In the present study, we provide a 15-year update on the portrayal of the heterosexual script, and we further examine how it relates to three contextual variables: target age of the audience, age of the characters, and relational context of the script. Drawing from a 2016 sample of television programs that featured tween, teen, or young-adult characters, we documented three complementary sexual scripts: the sexual double standard (sexuality is equated with masculinity, women's virtue is tied to their sexuality), commitment (men avoid commitment, women seek it), and homophobia (men must avoid homosexuality, female homosexuality is voyeuristically appealing to men). Like the Kim et al. study, the dominant heterosexual script was sex as masculinity; this script was equally represented in tween, teen, and young-adult shows. The second most common script was that men prioritize sex over commitment, followed by the notion that women's virtue is tied to their sexuality. The commitment scripts were most often invoked by young-adult and adult characters, while the sexual double standard scripts were more pronounced in hookups than in committed relationships.