About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

46 J. Broad. & Elec. Media 13 (2002)
Third-Person Effect, Gender, and Pornography on the Internet

handle is hein.journals/jbem46 and id is 23 raw text is: Third-Person Effect, Gender, and Pornography on the Internet Ven-hwei Lo and Ran Wei This study examined the role of gender in the third-person effect in the context of Internet pornography. The results indicate that most respon- dents believe Internet pornography has a greater negative influence on others than on themselves. Female respondents tend to perceive greater negative effects of Internet pornography on other males than on other females, and they are readier to support restrictions of Internet pornogra- phy. Finally, the magnitude of perceptual bias appears an unreliable predictor of support for media restriction, which may help explain the mixed results in previous studies. This novel gender-differential approach strengthens the growing literature on the third-person effect. The rapid, worldwide growth of the Internet leads to unprecedented opportunities in applications in business, communication, education, and entertainment (Hagel & Armstrong, 1997; Johnson, 1997; Schawrtz, 1997; Tapscott, Lowy, & Ticoll, 1998). Commercial interests act as a driving force behind these applications, but one of the byproducts is sex-lots of it. Sex is one of the most researched keywords on the Internet. Pornographic web sites have shown tremendous growth in the past few years, increasing by nearly 300 a day (Chen, 1999) and $700 million a year (Hapgood, 1996). They now total approximately 170,000. Cybersex or cyber- porn came hand-in-glove with global interconnectivity.1 Pornography on the Internet is unique because sexually explicit materials posted on the Internet differ from traditional forms of pornographic materials, such as magazines and videos, in several important ways: (a) It is widely available through Bulletin Board Services (BBS) groups and via the World Wide Web through database accesses, interactive services, e-mail, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and real-time data feeds; (b) it is active and interactive through the presentation of materials in Ven-hwei Lo (Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia) is a Professor in the Department of Journalism at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. His research interests include news media performance and the effects of mass media. Ran Wei (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor in the College of Journalism & Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include media effects, impact of new media technologies, and advertising. This study was supported by a research grant from the ROC's National Science Council. An earlier version won the second-place award in the Broadcast Education Association's Research Division's 2000 open paper competition. 0 2002 Broadcast Education Association Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 46(t), 2002, pp. 13-33

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most