Sexting

I thought it would be interesting to see if sexting was being studied since it is the new age of digital romantic involvement. Here is what I have found on the subject.

Some researchers suggest that sexting as it relates to psychology may be a way to improve social status or possibly a new type of “mating call” (http://www.realpsychology.com/content/tools-life/sextingis-it-all-about-power). The first study I found involved internet polling of people earlier this year. Of the 323 participants it was found that 66% sexted. Along with polling them about their sexting habits and experiences they took a “power personality assessment”. Ages of participants ranged from 13-72 years old and as a total they found that people who sexted had a higher power score compared to non-sexters. When broken down into smaller aged groups the teens (13-26) there was no difference in scores between sexters. One of the problems I think this study has was not enough participants. For being an online study they really should have gotten more participation.

Another article I found on sexting that I thought was interesting can be found here :http://socialpsychconnection.blogspot.com/2009/04/sexting-aiming-to-conform.html, this isn’t a study on it but a suggestion as to why sexting may occur in younger teens. The author suggests that the pressure to conform is a deciding factor on why teens will sext. I can see this point of view and can somewhat agree with what they are suggesting. It is sad to think though that some young girls (and possibly boys) are sending provocative pictures and messages simply to try and fit in and try to be “cool”.

So, my question is this: Is sexting really the new cybering? Based on this study alone I do not think it is. Cybering is more of an attempt to make connections to people anonymously and fill physical desires. Whereas sexting seems like it may be more of a thing about popularity and gaining social status. Sexting isn’t really something that is done anonymously either which is another thing that makes it different than cybering. This is a very interesting new area of study for social psychologists to research further.