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Closing the gender gap Swedish adolescent study

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Donevan and colleagues compare two cross-sectional cohorts of Swedish high-school seniors surveyed in 2004 and 2020–2021. The samples contained 4,266 and 3,256 participants, with mean ages just over 18.

Frequent pornography use increased among boys and girls, and the gender gap in reported responses narrowed. Boys in the later cohort reported less arousal, fewer positive emotions, and less inclination to imitate what they saw. Girls reported less aversion and distress. Both groups were more tolerant of pornography while also becoming more critical of its claimed benefits.

The repeated survey design supports a cohort comparison, not a causal account of why attitudes changed or what pornography did to individual participants. The study used several single-item measures, excluded the small non-binary group from gender comparisons, and the later data collection was disrupted by the pandemic. The authors also disclose that the lead author was employed by Talita, an organisation working against sexual exploitation; that interest bears on the article’s policy discussion more than on the survey figures it reports.

The preserved artifact is the open article. It informs Pornography literacy and harm reduction.

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