Youth Engagements with Pornographic Stereotypes: A Systematic Scoping Review

Pornography is a pervasive influence on young people's understandings and experiences of sexuality, raising critical questions about how they engage with its stereotypical portrayals. While most research approaches this issue from an "effects" perspective, far less is known about the more agentic, interpretive, and contextual ways in which youth make sense of and position themselves in relation to pornographic stereotypes. To address this gap, this systematic scoping review synthesizes empirical insights into how youth (aged 16-25) in OECD countries interpret and navigate such stereotypes. Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, a systematic search across eight academic databases identified 27 studies relevant to our research question. The findings show that youth engagement with pornographic stereotypes is heterogeneous, ranging from uncritical adoption of stereotypical scripts to various forms of detachment and transformation. These modes of engagement reveal both a capacity for evaluative reflection and the relational character of sexual socialization, with transformation, in particular, emerging through dialogue and boundary setting within peer and intimate relationships. By integrating dispersed findings, this review advances scholarly debates on media and sexuality while offering practical insights for interventions such as porn literacy programs.