Being involved in something one should not get involved with: resistance to sexual music videos

Research on sexual music videos has paid little attention to the possibility that viewers can resist the sexual content of music videos and has largely ignored the processes that may explain this resistance. The present study aimed to fill these gaps in the literature. In an experiment with a one-factorial between-subjects design, 44 young women were shown either a music video with sexual content or a music video with neutral content. Subsequently, their reactions to the music video were assessed. Involvement in the sexual music video resulted in increased psychological discomfort, which in turn elicited resistance in the form of negative thoughts and affect towards the music video. Our study suggests that future research on the effects of sexual music videos should pay more attention to resistance processes.