Pornography Use Profiles and the Emergence of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence

This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T1. At T4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T1. At T4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.

Trajectories of Calling in the Transition From University to Work: A Growth Mixture Analysis

Research on the development of calling is still in its infancy and rarely focused on how calling changes during a major career transition. The current study examined the developmental trajectories of calling and their relation with personality (i.e., conscientiousness, proactive personality) in the transition from university to work with a three-wave longitudinal study with 340 Chinese graduating university students. Results based on growth mixture modeling indicated three developmental trajectories of calling: high and stable calling (23% of sample), high but decreasing calling (74%), and low and increasing calling (3%). Moreover, higher conscientiousness related to a higher chance of being classified into the high and stable calling trajectory. These findings add notable insights to the literature by exploring the previously neglected developmental trajectories of calling and their association with personality in the transition from university to work.