Sexting and motives for sexting among adolescents

This article addresses sexting from its theoretical point of view and analyses the classification of its types and forms. Our focus is set to the motives for sexting among adolescents. The quantitative research carried out on the sample of 1,619 students in the Slovak Republic shows that adolescents can be divided into four groups according to their involvement in sexting: by-standers, victims, sexters and bidirectional sexters. It also shows that boys are involved in sexting more than girls. Semi-structured interviews with 37 adolescents aged 16–19 demonstrate that these adolescents encounter many forms of sexting such as partner’s request for materials in question, requests from strangers, misused photos, blackmail, etc. The reasons for sexting include trust, relationship intimacy enhancement, distraction, effort to preserve friendship, etc. At-risk sexting stems from unawareness of consequences.

The largest group involved in sexting is represented by 69% adolescents standing by. They are aware of sexting and its presence. The second group is represented by 19.1% students. These students are more likely to become victims of sexting. They were threatened once or twice in a month that theirown sexually explicit photos would be posted and misused. (Hollá, et. al, 2019, 91.) The third group includes 10.5% adolescents. They are highly active in sexting. They are sexters who are less likely to get involved in the active forms of sexting. Boys’ involvement in active sexting increases at the age of 13–18. Boys at the age of 17 and 18 are the most active in sexting. The same applies to girls at the age of 16 and 17.