Sexting

Sexting refers to using a mobile phone to send someone sexually explicit messages or images. According to participants in a frequently cited research study, sexting involves the willing interactive exchange of erotic messages, and most research on the psychological effects of sexting focuses on willing interactions. News media accounts of sexting, however, often involve cases where an individual did not want the interaction or where sexually explicit images of an individual were shared by someone without the individual’s consent.

Sext messages can include text, photographs, or emojis or emoticons. Sexting differs from cybersex or other forms of computer-mediated sexuality in that it is enacted through smaller devices that can easily be transported, such as mobile phones or handheld computers, and in that most people who sext ...