… sexters were in a relationship, the survey found. In fact, with the exception of those who said they were in a “very committed” relationship, couples who sexted more often were more likely to say they were satisfied with their relationship. For those in very committed relationships, sexting made no difference in sexual satisfaction, the study found.
By contrast, sexting had little effect on sexual satisfaction for people who weren’t in relationships. Twenty-six percent of the group described themselves as single, the survey found.
“Sexting is a behavior that people do for many different reasons,” said Stasko. “The motives can differ, and differ at different times for the same person,” she added.
“So I would say that not all sexting is equal,” Stasko pointed out. “It’s not all positive. For example, while 60 percent said they never sexted when they didn’t want to, that still means that 40 percent did. But at the same time, it’s not all negative. It’s a type of sexual communication, but it’s also more generally just another type of communication, period. And it’s one that might actually make it easier to talk about sex for those who might have a more difficult time of it face to face.”
Jeffrey Hall, an assistant professor in the department of communication studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, said the current findings are “part of a larger discussion that is recognizing that sexting is a likely outgrowth of sexual talk in the context of new and ongoing relationships.”
Hall said, “Assuming that no one is scandalized that relationship partners talk about sex, we should also not be scandalized that people in relationships are talking about sex on their mobile phones.”
And, he added, “as mobile devices continue the steady march toward achieving the status of fully domestic technologies — like the television and the home computer — it should come as no surprise that we treat them as a means to carry on relationship business as usual, including talking about sex.”
Copyright HealthDay News August 2015. All rights reserved.