In the last decade, digital media has become more sexually explicit than ever. Among others, young people are increasingly exposed to this type of media. They can be deliberately exposed, like...Show moreIn the last decade, digital media has become more sexually explicit than ever. Among others, young people are increasingly exposed to this type of media. They can be deliberately exposed, like searching for information about sex and watching pornography. We call this active exposure. There are also young people who accidently get exposed to sexually explicit media content. This is called passive exposure and can consist of, for example, pop-up advertisements or unsolicited sexually explicit messages. Several studies have been conducted on exposure to sexually explicit media, but the prevalence varies widely. The aim of this study is to get a clear image of in which extent young people are exposed to sexually explicit media. Therefore, the following research question was formulated: To what extent are young people actively and passively exposed to sexually explicit media, and are there differences based on gender and sexual orientation? To answer the research question, an online questionnaire was developed and distributed among Dutch respondents between the age of 16 and 26 years old. The results show that boys have a higher chance of being actively and passively exposed to sexually explicit media. Sexual orientation does not appear to influence either active or passive exposure. In addition, no interaction was found between gender and sexual orientation. Based on these preliminary results, it is recommended to make young people more aware of the risks of experimenting with online sexual behaviors, through education and counseling by experts. Future research should recruit a more diverse sample with a larger group of men, people from the LGBTQ+ community, medium and low educated people, and people who live outside the city. Further research could also focus on which forms of sexually explicit media young people encounter most and what effects these may have.Show less
