Study suggests Gen Z isn’t interested in sex, romance or love triangles in movies or TV

There’s even more data lending credence to the theory of Gen Z’s alleged prudishness, with nearly half of those surveyed in a new survey saying there is “too much sex and sexual content on TV and in movies.”

The data comes from the annual “Teens and Screens” report, from the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), which analyzes the consumption habits and trends of young Americans. The 2025 survey was conducted in August, with a sample of 1,500 teens and young adults, ages 10 to 24, who reflect the general demographics of Gen Z in the U.S. “with respect to race, gender, and geographic region,” according to the study.

Although studies suggest that the number of sex scenes in films has decreased significantly since 2000 (with 2024 perhaps representing a slight increase), 48.4% of those surveyed in the study said there was still a lot of sexual content in films and TV shows. Furthermore, 60.9% said they would like to see on-screen relationships that were “more about the friendship between the couple than about sex”, while 59.7% said they wanted stories in which “the central relationships are friendships”.

Friendship came in third place out of 19 topics that teenagers wanted to see on screen. Romance came second to last, with just 36.5% reporting high interest.

Additionally, 54.1% of respondents said they would like to see stories about people “uninterested in romance,” with that number rising to 57.1% among teens 18 and under. More than half of respondents (54.9%) also said they would like to see more cross-gender relationships, where characters “prioritize friendship over turning it into a romantic relationship.”

The answers to the bonus question “what is your favorite series or movie?” were also decidedly unattractive. The top three placed were Stranger Things, Wandinha and SpongeBob SquarePantswhile Spider-Man and Family Guy they tied for fourth place. Tied for sixth place were two series where romance plays an important role: The Vampire Diaries and The Summer That Changed My Life.

These findings align with those from the “Teens and Screens” studies from the past two years. For example, in last year’s survey, 63.5% of teens strongly agreed that they wanted to see “content that focuses on platonic relationships/friendships,” up from 51.5% in 2023. And in the 2024 survey, 62.4% of respondents agreed with the statement, “I think sex and sexual content are not necessary to the plot of most TV shows and movies,” a significant increase from 47.5% in 2023.

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