The effect of social media and religiosity towards sexual misconduct among adolescence

Abstract

Social networking sites are built to be user-friendly, easy to navigate, easily connect to new people, can be obtained for free, and make them open to everybody. This quantitative study was conducted to identify the influence of social media on sexual misconduct behavior among adolescents. A total of 191 secondary school students from the northern zone of Peninsular Malaysia were involved in this study by random sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS-23. This study found that the use of social media among secondary school students is high, where the majority spend more than five hours a day. The purpose of dating among young Malays is more focused on discussing matters of love. The study also found that social media does not influence sexual misconduct, but a negative relationship exists between religiosity and sexual misconduct. The predictor of sexual misconduct purpose items contributes 30.6% (p < 0.01) of the variance change in religiosity. Also, sexual misconduct among males is much higher than in female adolescence. The more surprising finding is that there are samples of social media accounts for gays, and some Malay youth's interest in dating is meant to do evil or discuss sex. Therefore, social media users could partake in more risky sexual behaviors because of a larger peer network influencing their attitudes and social norms. The current findings are expected to signal parents, teachers, the community, and the Ministry of Education Malaysia to take proactive measures to address this issue.