Contributions of Music Video Exposure to Black Adolescents’ Gender and Sexual Schemas

Abstract

Although music videos feature prominently in the media diets of many adolescents, little is known of their impact on viewers’ conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Accordingly, this study examines the impact of both regular and experimental music video exposure on adolescent viewers’ conceptions about gender. Across two testing sessions, 152 African American high school students completed survey measures assessing their regular media usage and gender role attitudes, and later they were exposed to either four stereotypical music videos or four nonstereotypical music videos and responded to additional measures examining their attitudes about gender. As expected, more frequent music video viewing was associated with more traditional gender role attitudes and with assigning greater importance to specific stereotypical attributes. Similarly, students exposed to videos laden with gender stereotypes expressed more traditional views about gender and sexual relationships than did those who had viewed less stereotypical content.