Abstract

Young adults explore sexuality through social media, using smartphones to conduct their intimate social relationships. This includes sexting behaviors that may have negative repercussions, such as bullying or non-consensual dissemination of content. Our study examines the connections between emotion regulation, moral judgment, and sexting behavior (with instant messages) among young adults. We tested the research variables—sexting, emotional regulation, and moral judgment—in a sample population of 682 young Israeli adults, ages 18–25. The study’s findings indicate that 45.9% of the sample population of young adults have sent sexual messages and 47.9% have received such messages. No disparities in sexting behavior were found between young men and young women. Higher use of sexting was found among those who were in an intimate relationship. Difficulty in emotion regulation was found to correlate with lower capacity for ethical/humane moral judgment, which in turn signaled a higher likelihood of sexting behavior.

摘要

年轻人通过社交媒体探索性，使用智能手机建立亲密的社交关系。这包括可能产生负面影响的色情短信行为，例如欺凌或未经同意传播内容。我们的研究探讨了年轻人的情绪调节、道德判断和色情短信行为（即时信息）之间的联系。我们在 682 名 18-25 岁的以色列年轻人样本中测试了研究变量——色情短信、情绪调节和道德判断。研究结果表明，45.9%的年轻人样本曾发送过性信息，47.9%的人收到过此类信息。年轻男性和年轻女性之间的色情短信行为没有发现差异。亲密关系中的人更常使用色情短信。