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Sexting seems to be more common than previously thought, according to a new survey. More than 80 percent American adults have been engaged in sexting at least once in 2014. This basically means sending texts or photos with explicit sexual connotations.
“Sexting is a prevalent behavior that adults engage in for a variety of reasons. These findings indicate a robust relationship between sexting and sexual satisfaction,” ,” said lead researchers Pamela A. Geller, who is a professor at the Women’s Health Psychology Lab at Drexel and Emily Stasko, who is a doctoral student in psychology at the same university.
The study involved about 900 adults whose ages varied between 18 and 82. They were all heterosexual and their average age was 35. These surveys related to sexting were conducted online through Amazon Mechanical Turk.
It was revealed that about 88 percent of the participants had sexted at least once in the past and 82 percent of them did it over the last year. Almost all of them (96 percent) supported the idea of sexting.
On the bright side, three quarters of the respondents texted with their partner, about 40 percent texted with someone in a casual relationship and only about a tenth of them were in a cheating relationship.
However, those who were the happiest about sexting were the ones who were not committed or were just casually committed with the person. Actually, the researchers found no connection between sexting and sexual satisfaction with people who were committed.
The most surprising thing was that the survey indicated that sexting was generally a positive thing and it had a good impact on the communication between partners, because it contributed to a steady and healthy relationship.
Other health experts, such as sexologist Patti Britton from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, support this theory. Britton said that she even uses the technique as assignment for couples who come to therapy, as it is a great way for a person to show desire for his or her partner.
“Using the online world creates a way for them to find steppingstones or building blocks to reconnect in an erotic or a sexual way,” she said.
However, experts warn against the danger of sending provocative photos, because statistics show that nearly 25 percent of those photos are seen by other people as well. This can have devastating consequences on a person if she or he becomes a public figure or the president of a company one day.
The researchers will present their findings at this year’s American Psychological Association’s conference in Toronto, Canada, on the 15th of August.
Image Source: meebal
