Exploring the roles of online moral disengagement, body esteem, and psychosexual variables in predicting sexting motivations and behaviours

Abstract

Studies on sexting motivations have produced a wealth of data and valuable information, but the roles of potentially relevant psychological variables in predicting specific sexting motivations have rarely been investigated. This study aims to explore, in a sample of 587 Italian adults (Mage = 25.5; SD = 6), whether online moral disengagement, body dissatisfaction, and three psychosexual variables can predict different sexting motivations (i.e., body image reinforcement, sexual, and aggravated/instrumental motivations), and whether these reasons can predict different sexting behaviours, such as private sexting, sexts’ dissemination, and posting own’ sexts online. A full Structural Equation Modeling analysis was carried out to explore the relationships between predictors of sexting motivations, sexting motivations, and sexting behaviours. Results showed that sending sexts privately was positively affected by all three sexting motivations. Posting own’ sexts online was only affected by body image reinforcement in a positive direction, whereas disseminating others’ sexts was only positively predicted by aggravated/instrumental reasons. In turn, body image reinforcement was positively affected by sexual preoccupation and negatively by body esteem. Sexual purposes were instead positively predicted by sexual esteem and sexual satisfaction and negatively by online moral disengagement and body esteem. Finally, aggravated/instrumental reasons were positively influenced by online moral disengagement and sexual preoccupation. Our study highlights the role of online moral disengagement in predicting aggravated/instrumental reasons, which lead to harmful or even illegal forms of sexting, and further supports the idea that aggravated and experimental sexting are two distinct behaviours, with distinct precursors.