THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL HEGEMONIC IDEOLOGY BUILDS THROUGH PORNOGRAPHY ON YOUNG PEOPLE'S PARTNER PREFERENCES: A STUDY IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE OF SRI LANKA

Abstract

Pornography is influenced by both positive and negative societal discourses, illustrating multiple perspectives on its cultural, ethical, and psychological consequences. Numerous studies have demonstrated that internet pornography has several kinds of sociopsychological consequences. Sri Lanka has been ranked first in terms of searches for the word ‘sex’ on Google. There have also been studies on the influence of cultural hegemony on social behavior through various media messages. In this context, it is more important to examine the impact of internet pornography on young people when selecting their partner. Studying how ideological and cultural hegemonic ideas constructed through pornography affect youth relationships is an important research gap in the present, and this study has attempted to fill that research gap. The main research problem of this research is whether young people are using internet pornography to build an ideological cultural hegemony when selecting their partner. The main objective of this study is to examine whether young people are using internet pornography to build an ideological cultural hegemony when selecting their partner. The study was conducted with a special focus on the Western Province of Sri Lanka. This study utilized a mixed method, integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods. The Online survey method was used to collect data through questionnaires analyzing the responses from 374 participants aged 18 to 29 in the Western Province. SPSS was used for data analysis. The findings of the research indicate that a significant number of young people expect the physical characteristics shown through internet pornography when selecting their partner. Also, the percentage of those who expect sexual activities shown through internet pornography from their sexual partner is high. Based on this data, the research indicates that young people are in a cultural hegemonic ideology built through internet pornography when selecting their partner.