1. Social Cognitive Theory and the Effects
of Gender and Exposure on
Liking/Disliking Sexual Contented
Music Videos
STUDY DONE BY:
BRITTANY PHILIP
PRESTON NEWLIN
MEGHAN GILLING

2. INTRODUCTION
 How many of you watch MTV?
 How many of you watch music videos?
 How many of you realize when videos have sexual content in them?
 Sexual content and music videos…tied together since MTV aired
over 2 decades ago.
 “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles
 The 24-hour pop and rock music video format spurred a flurry of
research on the medium, primarily regarding
sexual, violent, moral, and religious content, with some attention to
adolescent viewers’ interpretations.

3. “Video Killed the Radio Star”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ
 “Innuendo through clothing, suggestiveness, and
light physical contact rather than more overt
behaviors.”
 Cummins, 2007

4. Introduction Cont’d
 “MTV, “the world’s most widely distributed
television network, reaches more than 394 million
subscribers in 166 countries and territories”. The
target audience of MTV is 12- to 34-year-olds, who
comprise 33% of the United States population”
-Smith, 2005

5. Introduction Cont’d
 Music videos are being watched – their effect?
 Sexual content and music videos…tied together since
MTV aired over 2 decades ago.
 Most research (Music Videos effect on Sexual
Actions)

6. Purpose
 To study why a person may dislike or like a video that has
sexual content material within it.
 To study how exposure and gender are related to music
video viewing.
 To study perceived gender roles in these music videos.
 To gain knowledge through research and aid other
researchers in the future.

7. FIRST: Social Learning Theory
 Our Theory…Derived from an area of the Social
Learning Theory ( Miller & Dollard, 1941)
 Social Learning Theory: People learn from watching
other people.
“(Growing up, children learn to do activities by
observing their parents. After the observation, we then
decide whether or not we agree with the action and
then make our decision based on that).”

8. Social Cognitive
 Bandura and Walters, 1963 – Broadened SLT
 “Explains how people acquire and maintain certain
behavior patterns, while also providing the basis for
intervention strategies” (Bandura, 1997).

9. SCT and Our Research
 Use SCT to study how the amount of sexual content
in music videos may affect the liking or disliking of
those videos based on gender and exposure to the
videos.
 Most research = sexual behavior due to MVids
 Ours = sexual content effecting liking and disliking
of videos which effects viewing behavior as well.

10. Literature Review: Overview
 What Types of Videos
 Exposure
 Gender Portrayals
 Gender Preferences
 Gender Habits

11. Literature Review
 “Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on
Children and Youth”
 Policy Statement, 2009
 “A concept video is defined as “[telling] the viewer a story that may or
may not evolve from the song. This story may sometimes add content to
the lyrics and provide a particular interpretation that is reinforced
every time the viewer hears the song” (Policy Statement, 2009).
 The basis of a performance video is “an artist or a group is filmed
during a performance, usually a concert”
 Concept is more influential…
(When survey was given…these are the videos that were implied)

12. Literature Review
 “Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on
Children and Youth”
 Policy Statement, 2009
 “100 fourth to sixth graders in the United States and in
Europe revealed that “75% of them watched music
videos”
 “Such high consumption of highly sexualized videos at
such a young age, can only contribute to a consistent
consumption of explicit music videos as these
adolescents become young adults, as well as “changes in
behaviors and attitudes of young viewers”

13. Literature Review
 “Controversial Rap Themes, Gender Portrayals and
Skin Tone Distortion: A Content Analysis of Rap
Music Videos.”
 Conrad, K., Dixon, T. L., & Zhang, Y. (2009).
 “The pressuring idea has been that the accepted look of beauty is
“is represented by Eurocentric features such as white skin, blond
hair, blue eyes, as well as youth, and low body weight”
 “Males are often associated with darker skin tone and strong
Afrocentric features which infers a connection with criminality
and fear. As a result, there is a huge divide between the portrayal
of gender in these music videos.”

14. Literature Review
 “Gender and family as moderators of the relationship
between music video exposure and Adolescence”
 Strouse, J. S., Buerkel-Rothfuss, N., & Al, e. (1995)
 “Females prefer soft, romantic, danceable music whereas
males prefer hard rock, macho music.”
 “Females tend to listen to more music.”
 “Woman also, ascribe greater personal importance to
music, pay more attention to the lyrics and report more
personal involvement and participation in music
imagery, and are more influenced by music videos to
purchase albums”
 “On average, girls watch more music video than boys.”

15. Literature Review
 “Gender and family as moderators of the relationship
between music video exposure and Adolescence”
 Strouse, J. S., Buerkel-Rothfuss, N., & Al, e. (1995)
 “Females are generally reared in a more conservative
sexual manner than males.”
 “Females also learn that they are socially expected to
set limits on sexual involvements.”
 “Within sexual limitations, there should be a
difference in if males or women would stop watching
a video due to sexual content being over the top.”

16. Literature Review
 “Gender and family as moderators of the relationship
between music video exposure and Adolescence”
 Strouse, J. S., Buerkel-Rothfuss, N., & Al, e. (1995)
 “There is a stronger association between the amount
of exposure to MTV and PSP for females than for
males.”
 “Suggest that the implicit assumption that sexual
content can be used to increase the enjoyment of
music videos is at least partially valid.”

17. H 1: Gender (IV) is associated to how much exposure (DV) a
person has to music videos.
IV: GENDER DV: EXPOSURE
(Nominal) (Ratio)
 Constitutive Definition  Constitutive Definition
 Male/Female  Exposure is growing as
many teenager begin to
“watch videos
 Measurability younger, and more often”
 The answer to the (Strouse, et. Al, 1995)
questionnaire question:
“Are you male or female?”
on the survey  Measurability
 The answer to “how often
they watch music videos?”
on survey
Correlation

18. H 2: Females (IV) have more personal interactions(DV) with
music than men.
IV: FEMALES DV: PERSONAL
(Nominal)
INTERACTIONS
(Nominal)
 Operational Definition  Operational Definition
 female  “greater personal importance to
music, pay[s] more attention to
the lyrics and report more
 Measurability personal involvement and
participation in music imagery”
 Answer to survey (Strouse, et. al, 1995).
question, “are you male of
female?”  Measurability
 Answer to questions, “would
you rather watch a video with
high sexual content, moderate
sexual content, low sexual
content or none at all?”
 Chart females
X2 test to be used

19. RQ 1: If someone has been exposed to music videos for a longer period of
time (years)(IV), will there be a relationship between whether they
prefer music videos with sexual content (DV)?
IV: YEARS (Exposure) DV: PREFERENCE
(Ratio) (Nominal)
 Constitutive Definition  Constitutive Definition
 Exposure is growing as  “Watch/Do not watch”
many teenager begin to
“watch videos
younger, and more often”  Measurability
(Strouse, et. Al, 1995)  Answer to question, “I
 Measurability
would rather watch a
music video with.”
 The answer to “when did
you begin to watch music
videos?” on survey
Correlation

20. RQ 2: Do males and females (IV) believe the appearance of
gender(DV) to be bad or good in music videos?
IV: GENDER DV: APPEARANCE
(Nominal) (Nominal)
 Constitutive Definition
 Constitutive Definition  “The dissimilarity between
 Male/Female
the portrayals of men and
women”.
 Kate Conrad, Travis
 Measurability Dixon, and Yuanyuan
 The answer to the Zhang, 2009.
questionnaire question:  Measurability
“Are you male or female?”  Answer to a question
on the survey about how they feel men
and woman are portrayed
in music videos.
X2 test to be used

21. Methodology
 Survey
 Face to Face Survey
 13 Questions
 All females and males answered every question

22. Methodology Cont’d
 Sample
 85 Queens Students
 44 Women/ 41 Men

23. Data Collection
Passed out around campus at different times
of the day and evening to try to hit all
dynamics of Queens’ students.

24. Respondents
 We had 75, but to make the gender demographic
more equal, we did 10 more.
85 Total Respondents

25. Demographic Gender
Gender
Males
Females

26. Pilot Study
 3 Girls, 1 Male
 Queens is more populated by females than males.
(During study we made a point to try for a very similar
number because we studied gender)
 The pilot study mirrors the population’s numbers.
 Questions were altered slightly in the questionnaire due
to confusion and many questions back from respondents.

27. Sample Type
o Random
o Purposive (b/c the characteristic of gender playing a role)
o Available/convenience sampling (b/c the researchers are also
students who had friends on campus who filled out the survey with
little hesitation).

28. FINDINGS

29. H 1: Gender (IV) is associated to how much exposure (DV) a
person has to music videos.
SUPPORTED!
 MALES FEMALES
 73.17% of males watch music videos 1-4 times a week  81.81% of females watch music videos 1-4 times a
 14.63% of males watch music videos 5-9 times a week.
week.  9.09% of females watch music videos 5-9 times a
 7.31% of males watch music videos 10-14 times a week.
week.  2.27% of females watch music videos 10-14 times a
 7.31% of males watch music videos more than 15 week.
times a week.  2.27% of females watch music videos 15+ times a
week.
 4.87% of males watched music videos under 8 years  22.72& of females were ages 8-11
of age  54.54% of females were ages 12-15
 36.58% of males watched music videos 8-11  22.72% of females were ages 16-19
 53.65% of males watched music videos 12-15
 7.31% of males watched music videos 16-19
 2.43% of males watched music videos over 23 years  Males begin watching music videos at a younger age
of age than females.
 Males watch music videos more often.
 X2
 T-test
 ?
 Support?
Does not support Strouse, et.al, when they say “on average, girls
watch more music videos than boys”

30. H1 Table
How many times a week do you watch music videos?
82
80
78
P 76
74
72
70
e 68
66
64
r 62
60
58
56
c 54
52
50
48
e 46
44 Males
42
n 40
38
36 Females
34
t 32
30
28
26
a 24
22
20
g 18
16
14
12
e 10
8
6
4
2
0
1 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 14 15+
Number of Times Watched a Week

31. H 2: Females (IV) have more personal interactions(DV)
with music than men.
SUPPORTED!
MALES FEMALES
 17.07% of males listen to lyrics  20.45% of females listen to
very often lyrics very often
 60.97% of males listen to lyrics  52.27% of females listen to
often. lyrics often
 21.95% of males listen to lyrics  25% of females listen to lyrics
sometimes. sometimes
 2.43% of males listen to lyrics  2.27% of females listen to lyrics
rarely. rarely
Overall Conclusion: 3% more females pay attention
to lyrics, which contributes personal interaction with
the song.

32. RQ 1: If someone has been exposed to music videos for a longer
period of time (years)(IV), will there be a relationship between
whether they prefer music videos with sexual content (DV)?
Under 8 years old 16-19
What you prefer? What you prefer?
 Stdis ….33.33%  Stdis…0%
 Dis…0%  Dis …7.14
 Neutral …66.66%  Neutral …64.28%
 Like…0%  Like …14.28%
 St like…0%  St like …14.28%
More likely to watch? More likely to watch?
 High…0%  High …14.28%
 Msc…0%  Msc …42.85%
 Lsc ….66.66%  Lsc …7.14%
 None …33.33%  None …21.42%
The group that began watching music videos earlier, did not like music videos
with sexual content and they were more likely to watch one with either low or no
sexual content in them.
The group that began watching music videos later, had more percentage within
the neutral and strongly like categories of sexual content, and the majority of the
group were more likely to watch a music video with moderate sexual content.

33. RQ 1 Table
On the scale below, please choose how much you like/dislike music videos with sexual content
Strongly dislike Dislike Neutral Like Strongly like
70
P 60
e
50
r
c 40
Under 8
e
16-19
n 30
t 20
a
g 10
e
0
St. Disagree Disagree Neutral Like St. Like

34. RQ 2: Do males and females (IV) believe the appearance of
gender(DV) to be bad or good in music videos?
 MALES  FEMALES
 73.17% of males agree that there  72.72% of females believe that
is gender stereotypes in music gender stereotypes exist in music
videos videos.
 12.19% of males do not think that  18.18% of females do not believe
there are gender stereotypes in that gender stereotypes exist in
music videos. music videos.
 6.81% of females believe that
 17.07% of males think that
gender roles sometimes exist in
gender stereotypes are
music videos.
sometimes in music videos.
It is not supported because the percentages are too close.

35. Interesting…
MALES FEMALES
Female Portrayal Female Portrayal
 9.75% of males think female portrayal is very  20.45% of women are neutral to the
good. portrayal of women in music videos.
 17.07% of males think female portrayal is
 70.45% of females believe that women
good.
are portrayed badly in music videos.
 36.58% of males are neutral
 24.39% of males think female portrayal is
 9.09% of females believe that women
bad. are portrayed very badly in music
 2.43% of males think female portrayal is very videos.
bad.
Male Portrayal
Male Portrayal  27.27% of female believe that men are
 4.87% of males think male portrayal is very portrayed well/as “good” in music
good. videos.
 19.51% of males think male portrayal is good.
 50% of females are neutral/believe the
 60.97% of males think that male portrayal is
neutral.
portrayal of males? is neutral
 12.19% of males think that male portrayal is  22.72% of females believe that men are
bad. portrayed badly in music videos.
 4.87% of males think that male portrayal is
very bad.
Higher percentage of females believe females to be portrayed badly.
More females than males believe male portrayal is good in music videos.

36. Discussion
 Social Cognitive
“Explains how people acquire and maintain certain
behavior patterns, while also providing the basis for
intervention strategies” (Bandura, 1997).
 Earlier exposure does have an effect on how a person
behaves towards music videos (likes/dislikes).
 Gender does affect (slightly) how much a person watches
music videos (behavior).
 Gender affects behavior of listening to lyrics…implies
personal experience with Mvids

37. Implications
 When watching music videos, pay attention to why
you are watching it (sexual content, words etc.)
 Pay attention to gender roles and how it affects your
liking/disliking of it.

38. Limitations
 Not a Large Enough Sample (85)
 Not Completely Random
 Limited to Queens Students
 Research Was very Limited
 Hesitance answering for gender reasons

39. Recommendations for Future Researchers
 Larger and More Diverse Sample
 Study Demographics or Liking/Disliking
 Stick to One Age group to rule out confounding
variable…what if someone who went to school here
watched music videos at a different time period.
 Have women give survey to women, and male give it
to males