Impact of Internet Pornography on Chinese Teens: The Third-Person Effect and Attitudes Toward Censorship

Abstract

Based on the third-person effect hypothesis–people’s belief that the media influences others more than it influences themselves–we administered a questionnaire to Chinese teens (N = 1,538) to discover the impacts of exposure to internet pornography on perceptions of pornography and attitudes toward censorship of pornography. The results validated the third-person effect hypothesis and showed that teens’ subjective perceptions of what constitutes internet pornography and their exposure to it are critical variables for predicting perceptions of negative impacts of pornography on self and others and affirmative attitudes toward censorship. The study also found that the impact on self is the best variable for predicting attitudes toward censorship. The discussion is framed in the context of Chinese collective culture and conservative attitudes toward sex.