Sexting coercion within romantic context: a test of Akers’ social learning theory

Abstract

ABSTRACT Prior research has mainly focused on why individuals are engaging in sexting. However, little is known about sexting in intimate relationships, particularly sexting coercion. This study examined sexting coercion using social learning theory in a sample of young adults who had experience with a romantic relationship (N = 315, aged 14–28 years, 67.94% female). Individuals completed the sexting coercion scale and the social learning scale online. The results showed that over 33% of the respondents reported being victims of sexting coercion in an intimate relationship, while about 28% of them had perpetrated sexting coercion. The results suggest that sexting coercion in an intimate relationship is significantly predicted by differential association, differential reinforcement, and imitation. The findings of this study highlight the importance of exposing youth to evidence-based preventive educational interventions on sexting from the earliest age, based on the constructs of social learning theory. Practice Impact Statement The findings of this study of sexting coercion among young adults are relevant to educational programmes given recent evidence of the prevalence of sexting coercion victimisation and sexting coercion perpetration among youth in romantic relationships. The findings suggest that those who engage in sexting coercion use a social learning mechanism that should be considered when developing educational interventions to prevent sexting coercion.