The purpose of this study was to see if there are any differences between high school girls and boy’s reception ability and memory after reading two Swedish lifestyle magazines.

9 boys and 9 girls from ages 17-18 were chosen to participate in the study. They were placed in a room one by one where they had to read one women’s magazine (Cosmopolitan) and one men’s magazine (Café). They did not know this was a memory and reception test until after they finished their reading.

With help from former reception studies and the magazines, questions were selected so the interviews would give as much information as possible.

The study gave some unexpected results, for example both genders seemed to remember numbers very well even if they didn’t remember the article itself. The myth that boys pay immediate attention to half naked girls more than anything else was not confirmed. They seemed to look at the half naked guys to compare themselves instead.

When it comes to who remembered the most, girls outshined the boys. They paid more attention to the magazines and they got higher scores on the questions during the interviews.

Overall the participants remembered far less than they thought which indicated that when they read these magazines they don’t think or reflect much. Interesting was the most common answer to why they seemed to remember an article.