Sexual Media Exposure and its Effects on the Academic Engagement of First Year College Students

Abstract

Hours are spent daily on various types of media, and by choice or not, exposure to sexually
explicit material may occur. Although there are several studies conducted on the negative
effects of sexual media exposure such as development of sexual aggression and poor academic
performance there is insufficient information regarding its relationship with academic
engagement. This study determined the extent of sexual media exposure, degree of academic
engagement, the relationship between these aspects, as well as the best predictor of academic
engagement among first year college.
The study utilized a quantitative, descriptive- correlational design. A purposive sampling
technique was used to gather 101 respondents using specified criteria. Descriptive and
Inferential statistics were used in the study. Specifically, the mean, standard deviation,
correlation coefficient, regression analysis, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used
for statistical analysis.
The study showed that the extent of sexual media exposure of first year college students in
terms of frequency and duration are low. The study also revealed that the students have a high
degree of academic engagement of first year college students in terms of affective, behavioral,
and cognitive faculties. Further, the study revealed that there is no significant relationship
between sexual media exposure and student academic engagement. A weak positive
relationship exists between sexual media exposure and affective academic engagement.
Finally, findings showed that sex and nationality are the best predictors of student academic
engagement.
There is no relationship between sexual media exposure and student academic engagement but
a weak relationship is perceived in affective academic engagement. It is recommended that the
study will be conducted in a larger population considering sizeable representation of the given
variables. It is also suggested that the questionnaire for sexual media exposure will be more
specific, including terminologies that connote actual sexual knowledge, attitude and behavior.
To sustain high degree academic engagement, exposure to possibly distracting sexual media
should be studied