A new study suggests that men tend to think positive things will happen if they send and receive sexy text messages, whereas women have more negative expectations about "sexting."
The study is one of the first to examine what people expect when they sext dubbed their "sextpectancies" by the researchers and how such expectations may influence sexting behavior.
The study surveyed 278 college students (whose average age was 21), asking them about their sexting behavior, as well as their views about the outcomes of sexting.
Sexting was defined as sending sexually explicit pictures or text messages by phone or through social networking sites.
About 80 percent of participants reported receiving, and 67 percent reported sending, sexts through text messages, while about 46 percent reported sending and 64 percent reported receiving sexts with pictures, Fox New reported.
Most people said they did not sext frequently (less than three times a month).
Men reported sending and receiving sexts more often than women.
People reported both positive and negative sextpectancies.
Common positive sextpectancies were: "sexting makes one feel sexy," "sexting makes one excited," and "sexting makes it easier to flirt."
Common negative sextpectancies were: "Sexting makes one embarrassed" and "sexting makes one feel uncomfortable."
Men reported more positive sextpectancies about receiving sexts, while women reported more negative ones.
Single people also reported more negative sextpectancies about receiving sexts than those who were dating, living together or married.
Perhaps not surprisingly, having more positive sextpectancies was linked with more frequent sexting, while having more negative sextpectancies was linked with lower rates of sexting.
The study is published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
