Sindy Resita Sumter

Children and adolescents' identity development and perceptions of others who are either similar or different from them are partly influenced by the entertainment media they consume. It is, therefore, important to know how often and how entertainment media, including television shows, movies, and video games, portray people with various identities, and minoritized identity groups in particular. In this chapter, we review how entertainment media—popular among young people—represents minoritized social groups with a particular focus on gender, sexual orientation, and racial/ethnic background. Although the media landscape is increasingly more diverse, entertainment media for young people are still characterized by under- and misrepresentations of minoritized social group members.

This six-wave longitudinal survey study investigated associations between perceived smartphone overuse and the use of technology-based disconnection strategies. The sample was representative of the Dutch population regarding age, gender, and education level ( N = 1674). Linear mixed models showed that perceived overuse was positively related to self-reported screen time and motivations to reduce screen time. People with higher perceived overuse were more likely to adopt disconnection strategies in the following 2 months. Yet, surprisingly, at the within-person level, we found that when someone experienced more overuse than they normally do, they were not more likely to adopt disconnection strategies. Moreover, using disconnection strategies in the previous 2 months was related to higher perceived overuse and self-reported screen time. Together, these findings suggest that people do not always take action when unsatisfied with their smartphone use, and when they do, technology-based disconnection strategies are not effective in reducing perceived smartphone overuse.

This linkage study examined the prevalence of traditional gender expressions in the textual and visual profile cues on mobile dating applications (MDA) (nbiographies = 396, npictures = 1352) of 396 young adults’ (Mage = 22.39 years, SD = 2.86, 73% women) with attention to users’ gender, sexual orientation, and platform type. For 184 users (Mage = 22.10 years, SD = 2.91, 75% women) media content data were linked to self-report survey data. Results showed that individuals aligned their self-presentations with traditional gender roles and expectations, and this link depended on their gender. No significant differences according to individuals’ sexual orientation or platform type were found. Individuals’ (hyper-) gender orientation also related to engagement in traditional gender expressions. Specifically, women with a stronger feminine gender orientation expressed more traditional femininity in their MDA profiles. For men, no significant associations between (aspects of) a masculine gender orientation and expressing traditional masculinity in their MDA profiles were found. Future research should further disentangle selective gendered self-presentations.

Intrinsic (i.e., personality traits) and extrinsic mate value (i.e., resources, physical attractiveness) preferences play a crucial role in (online) relationship formation. The role of mate values in dating applications was unclear and was addressed in a multi-method study. A first content analytical study examined the prevalence of mate values (MVs) on Tinder profiles (Study 1) and two subsequent cross-sectional studies explored the relationships between dating app use, various swiping behaviors, sexual satisfaction (Studies 2–3), need satisfaction with matches (Study 3), having a committed relationship versus casual sex motivation for using dating apps and users’ gender. The content analysis of 307 Tinder profiles indicated that resources and physical attractiveness were most salient in biographies and pictures, respectively. The first cross-sectional study (n_fullsample = 325, n_{dating app users} = 133) revealed no significant relationships between dating app frequency/swiping frequency, intrinsic and extrinsic MV preferences, and sexual satisfaction. The second cross-sectional study (n = 323) showed no significant relationships between picture-based or biography-based swiping, intrinsic and extrinsic MV preferences, and need satisfaction with matches. Gender differences emerged in the presentation of MVs on Tinder (Study 1) and general MV preferences (Study 2–3), but not in the relationships between different types of dating app use/swiping and MV preferences (Study 2–3). A committed relationship and a casual sex motivation played a role in the relationships between different types of swiping behaviors and MV preferences, and between MV preferences, and sexual satisfaction/need satisfaction with matches.