Television viewing profiles among adolescents: sex differences and social stereotypes

This study analyses sex differences in relation to the television viewing profile of 577 adolescents (307 girls and 270 boys) from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Spain). Our general aim was to determine whether adolescents’ television viewing profile contributed to defining the meaning of gender. To establish the profiles, responses to the CH-TV.01 questionnaire were grouped into eight indicators: time spent watching TV, alternatives, devices and physical availability, parental mediation, conversation, viewing style, preferred shows and specific viewing time. Although the data revealed no sex differences in general terms, upon analysing the responses given in relation to parental mediation, preferred shows and specific viewing time, significant differences were observed that indicate that girls are forbidden from watching more shows than boys. Furthermore, girls evince a more marked preference for Talk Shows, Reality Shows and Gossip Shows and spend more time than boys watching both those programmes and soap operas. The results reveal that, overall, it is not possible to talk about the reproduction of social stereotypes.

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Medrano, C., Aierbe, A., & Orejudo, S. (2009). El perfil de consumo televisivo en adolescentes: diferencias en función del sexo y estereotipos sociales. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 32(3), 293-306.