Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine the extent and type of sexual messages depicted in music videos and to assess whether sexual depictions differed based on music television network and gender of lead character(s).
Significance: A sizeable percentage of adolescents currently engage in sexual behavior. The depiction of sexuality in the media may affect adolescents’ perception of and involvement in sexual behaviors. The findings of this study may be particularly useful to professionals interested in developing effective interventions aimed at preventing such involvement.
Design: A 4-page coding sheet was developed to assess sexuality in music videos. The coding sheet consisted of three primary subscales: 1) attire; 2) dance/behavior; 3) location of sexual activity. Face and content validity of the coding sheet were established a priori via a review by a panel of experts. Requested revisions were incorporated into the final coding sheet. Research assistants (N = 4) were trained on the coding sheet, operational definitions, and viewing procedures prior to study implementation. Interrater reliability was established at >.90 (via a pilot viewing session of sample videos). The units of analysis were music videos aired on MTV, MTV2, BET, and GAC during the summer of 2004. One-hour segments of music videos were taped daily for two weeks. Depictions of attire, dance/behavior, and sexual activity were tallied. Frequencies of each depiction were also recorded. Subscale items were summed, resulting in three overall subscale scores. Each music video was also coded for lyrical concordance. If a music video depicted a visual message concordant to the lyrical message in the song, then the music video was determined to have lyrical concordance.
Results: Results indicated a sizeable percentage of music videos containing sexual themes and sexual depictions. A series of analyses of variance were conducted and found significant differences (p < .05) based on an array of demographic variables. More specifically, female attire was more sexually provocative than male attire. In addition, female dance behavior was more sexually provocative than male dance behavior. The overwhelming majority of sexual interactions among music video characters were not displayed in the context of committed relationships. Significant differences were also found based on music television network.
Conclusions: Findings from this study indicate a frequent occurrence of sexual messages displayed in music videos. Extensive glamorization of sexual activity, sexual behavior, and sexually provocative attire was found. Such depictions of sexual activity may affect adolescents’ perceptions of and involvement in sexual behavior. Handouts and additional recommendations will be provided.