Online sexual activities (OSA) such as searching for online sex education, using online pornography, and searching online for sexual partners are increasingly part of everyday life. The question of whether and to what extent these activities are associated with negative and/or positive outcomes is controversial. The study of the Research Group Media Psychology and Media Design shows that young adults from the USA, Canada, Sweden and Germany experience and report both negative and positive outcomes across countries, for example in the areas of knowledge, emotions, personality, safety, relationship quality and sexual behavior. Many thus experience their online sexual activities as ambivalent, and some also report experiencing neither positive nor negative outcomes.
Courtice, E.L., Shaughnessy, K., Blom, K., Asrat, Y., Daneback, K., Döring, N., Grov, C., & Byers, E.S. (2021). Young Adults’ Qualitative Self-Reports of Their Outcomes of Online Sexual Activities. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(2), 303-320. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11020023