Implicit sexual portrayals in the movies: Interpretations of young women

In this study I explored how young women make interpretations about the implicit portion (i.e., the fade‐to‐black part) of an implicit sex act portrayed in an R‐rated movie clip. Undergraduate women (N = 39) were interviewed about their interpretations of an implicit sexual portrayal from a movie clip. Viewers used a variety of sexual schemata and scripts to interpret the sexual episode. For inferences regarding sexual intercourse, viewers mostly relied on their observations of sequences of verbal / behavior events that seemed to indicate that sexual intercourse had happened. For judgments about safer sexual behaviors, viewers tended to rely more on generalizations regarding personalities, goals, relationships, situations, and sexual behavior in real life and in the movies than on their observations of verbal/behavioral events. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for future media research in sexuality.