Some of us enjoy the art of sexting, others' attempts at virtual foreplay come off more humorous than sexy, and others stay out of the game altogether. According to a new study in the Journal of Sex Research, which of these groups you belong to could reveal a surprising amount about your personality.
The researchers surveyed 459 college students about their sexting habits and how they behaved in their romantic relationships, including how scared they were that their partners would leave them, how much they feared their partners weren't happy with them, and how stressed out they were about dating.
Overall, people who sent sexts, nudes, pictures and videos of themselves in lingerie, and other suggestive photos and videos (they didn't go into specifics, but we'll venture that there were some dick-pic-senders in there) felt less secure in their relationships.
Study author Michelle Drouin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, told Complex this could mean avid sexters sext with the goal "to attract or keep a partner." Sexters also had lower "attachment avoidance," which essentially means they have fewer walls up (which you kind of need in order to snap a photo of your junk).
While feeling insecure about your relationship may be unhealthy, sexting itself is probably not, says Drouin. In fact, she found in another study that married men who receive sexually explicit images from their partners are happier in their relationships and that couples that text more have more sex. Sexting "could provide motivation or inspiration for physical sex, which might greatly benefit a relationship," she said.
So if you're finding yourself compulsively sexting, it might be worth asking yourself what your motives are. But as long as that nude photo is solicited, you can still go ahead and send it.
