Social representations of adolescents about sexuality on the internet*

Abstract

Objective: To apprehend the social representations of adolescents about sexuality on the internet. Method: Qualitative research, based on the structural approach on the Theory of Social Representations, with adolescents who are users of virtual media and who are students of two state schools. The free word association test was used, whose data were processed by the Evoc® 2005 software and analyzed in the light of the aforementioned theory. Results: A total of 124 adolescents participated in the research. The terms pornography, sexting and violence made up the central nucleus of the representation, signaling the valuation, image and practice dimensions of the investigated object. The similarity analysis confirmed the centrality of the violence element and added virtual dating and pedophilia. Conclusion: The social representations of adolescents point to the lack of security in the virtual environment regarding the exercise of sexuality, with predominant values and negative dimensions, which distance themselves from what is established as sexual rights, since adolescents have the right to live and express their sexuality freely.