Sexting Negatives

It’s in the news, its on social media, and its on cell phones. “Sexting” is just one way that many people engage in sexual activity. Sexting is sending and/or receiving sexually explicit photos through messages on their cell phone or through social media. Many Americans today, especially teenagers, are familiar with sexting, however, may not be familiar with the psychology behind sexting; why do we want to do it, what does it makes us feel, and what are the consequences of sexting. Anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of American teenagers actively engage in sexting today. Due to the rising number of teens who do engage in sexting, studies have been done to discover when the correlation is, if any, between sexting and engaging in sexual activity.

This is said to be true for both the sender and the receiver that experience positive feelings. Feeling the positive side to sexting and not so much the negative side often leads teens as well as young adults to believe they 're not going to get caught sexting. There is a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for problem solving, weighing your options, and impulse control. This part of the brain is not fully developed until the mid twenties, so this leads teen sexters to feel invincible, like they will never suffer the consequences of

Men reported saying that they had more than one sexting partner and received sext messages more often than sending them. Likewise, women are asked to send a racy photo more often than men. Compared to women, men are also more likely to experience positive feelings about sexting and women typically feel the negative aspect more. One reason for this as suggested by researcher Allyson Dir may be because women in society has a double standard for women, and it is more acceptable for men to be licentious. People who are involved in serious relationships also are more likely to send sexts than single individuals. This suggests that there is awareness about the risks that sexting acquires. Single individuals may feel the negative effects more strongly because they are less likely to trust the person they are sexting and might feel that the risk is just to much for them, and ultimately retain from