A study conducted by the Sexuality, Sexual Health & Sexual Behavior Lab in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Texas Tech University looked into the reasons that drive us to send sexts.
Its results are somewhat surprising. Indeed, the study demonstrated that when a person sends a nude or a cheeky text to their partner, in two-thirds of cases, it’s not for sexual purposes.
The study involved 160 participants, aged 18 to 69, who completed an online questionnaire.
Sending sexts: what’s the point?
Among the main motivations for wanting to send sexts, three stand out from the rest, coming in at roughly the same level:
- Sexts serve as a foreplay for future sexual activity. In short, the most obvious reason: for sex.
- They allow you to feel reassured by your partner about the nature of the relationship. If the other person seems to appreciate the sext and responds enthusiastically, you feel desired, and all is well.
- For some, sexts are a favor they do for their partner. Their aim is to get a non-sexual favor in return, like a nice meal out, for example.
Curiously, the age and sex of the participants don’t seem to really influence their responses.
Well, 160 participants is a bit too limited to constitute a truly representative sample. But this study does seem to show that, among people who send sexts, two out of three don’t have sexual intentions in mind.
Sexually suggestive messages sent without the recipient’s consent, and in particular unsolicited dick pics, fall outside the scope of the study. In those cases, we’re no longer talking about sexting, but sexual harassment.
Sexting or erotic correspondence: same story?
A sext is a relatively recent form of communication, a brief and instantaneous message characteristic of our era. A few words, a quick selfie, constitute an expression of desire that the other person receives immediately.
If its motivations turn out to be more ambiguous than they might appear at first glance, one might wonder what it was like with erotic correspondence or old-fashioned boudoir photos.
The latter involved more thought and effort, even risks depending on the era. But fundamentally, is it possible that the intentions were distributed in a similar way? Lacking a time machine, we’ll never know.
And you, do you send sexts to your partner? If so, for what reasons?
