Teens Want To See Less Sex, More Friendship In Movies & TV Shows, UCLA Study Finds

Teens are much more interested in seeing storylines about friendship and platonic relationships and less focus on sex in movies and TV shows, according to a UCLA study. That’s one of the key findings in the latest installment of the university’s “Teens and Screens” report — which surveyed some 1,500 young people across the U.S. aged 10 to 24.

The report found 63.5% of adolescents prefer “nomance”-related content this year, up from 55% in 2023. 

“Our findings really seemed to solidify a trend we found emerging in our data last year: that young people are tired of seeing the same dated and unrelatable romantic tropes on screen,” said Alisha J. Hines, director of research at the center. “Teens and young adults want to see stories that more authentically reflect a full spectrum of nuanced relationships.” 

More than a third, or 36.2%, of adolescents surveyed said they prefer to see content featuring fantasy worlds over stories about the rich and famous (7.2%), real-life issues that impact society (13.9%), relatable personal issues (24.2%) or other genres (3.3%). The popularity of fantasy content in the age group grew 56% compared to last year. For the third year in a row, hopeful and uplifting content showing people beating the odds came in first place.

“Having been exposed to huge stressors during formative years like COVID-19 and 24-hour news cycles detailing incidents of mass shootings, divisive politics and war, young people are overwhelmingly experiencing crisis fatigue,” said Yalda T. Uhls, founder and executive director of the center, co-author of the study and adjunct professor in UCLA’s psychology department. “This generation cares deeply about many social issues, but they also need a break mentally. It makes sense that we see many of them looking to the media for fantasy and stories with messages of hope to get relief from the many challenges that come with the reality of being a young person today.”

In good news for movie biz, the report found young audiences prefer going to movie theaters, over concert-going and playing video games. Streaming a new movie premiere on a device ranked fourth on the list.

You can download the entire “Teens & Screens” report on the UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers website here.