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Building upon ecological frameworks of relationship formation via digital technologies (Hertlein, 2011, 2012; Hertlein & Piercy, 2012; Hertlein & Stevenson, 2010), we propose that the use of online sexual activities (i.e., OSAs) may be related to the likelihood of engaging in online infidelity. More specifically, we aim to answer the research questions whether the frequency of the use of OSAs is associated with the engagement, or the perceived likelihood of such engagement, in online infidelity behaviors (RQ1), and whether this relationship occurs via the increased perception of the affordances of OSA’s, such as anonymity, accessibility, affordability, approximation, acceptability, ambiguity, and accommodation (RQ2). Moreover, based on literature on sociosexual orientation (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991), we aimed to investigate whether individual’s level of sociosexuality can moderate the prediction of the willingness of engage in online infidelity by OSAs (RQ3a) and by the perception of the affordances of OSA’s (RQ3b). As individuals with low levels of (i.e., with a restricted) sociosexual orientation prefer commitment and closeness in a relationship, we expect that for these individuals their will be no increase in the (likelihood of) engagement in online infidelity when their engagement in OSAs, or their perception of the affordances of OSAs is higher. Conversely, individuals high in (i.e., with an unrestricted) sociosexual orientation tend to be involved in relationships characterized by less investment, commitment, love, and dependency. Therefore, for this group of individuals, we do expect a positive prediction of their (likelihood of) engagement in online infidelity when their engagement in OSAs, or their perception of the affordances of OSAs is higher (i.e., a divergent positive contingent moderation, cf. Holbert & Park, 2020).

Given the lack of research on the role of media in relation to gender role conflict, the present study aims to disentangle the process of exposure to stereotypical and counter-stereotypical masculinity in the media, as well as viewer’s rejection of counter-stereotypical masculinity in the media, as expressions of gender role conflict. As such, we aimed to test a ‘media induced gender role conflict model’. As an outcome of media induced gender role conflict, we investigated self-esteem, depressive symptoms and restricted gender role identity. While the latter has not yet been investigated in relation to gender role conflict, it can be seen as an additional test of the occurrence of gender role conflict. Gender role restriction is said to result in a limiting and confining of people’s behavior and human freedom (O’Neil, 2013), which may also apply to a confinement of an individual’s own gendered behavior and feelings. It can be expected that individuals that adopt a restricted view of masculinity (i.e., possibly enhanced by restricted exposure to stereotypical masculinity in the media), or devalue counter-stereotypical masculinity (i.e., by finding such masculinity in the media unacceptable), will be more restricted in their gender role identity. Thus, their gendered feelings and behaviors are less likely to fluctuate on a day to day basis. In contrast, exposure to counter-stereotypical masculinity, and the acceptance of such masculinity, in the media, may result in a more variable gender role orientation, in that how a person acts and feels in terms of their gender role is allowed to fluctuate. Furthermore, while previous research has mostly focused on gender role conflict in men, we aimed to explore whether the media induced gender role conflict only holds for certain types of men, and whether it also holds for women. Previous research on effects of gender stereotypes in the media (e.g., videogames), for instance, showed that the relationship between media use and aggressive behavior was stronger among hypermasculine young adults (Thomas & Levant, 2012) and some studies have found that the associations between violent video game-play and endorsement of hypermasculine norms occurred equally among male and female players (Blackburn & Scharrer, 2019). It can be expected that individuals with restricted views on gender not only hold such views on their own gender, but also on the opposite gender.

This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T1. At T4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T1. At T4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.