Commonly called "Sexting"December 2008:
SEX AnD TECH
Results from a Survey of Teens and Young Adults
In an effort to better understand the intersection between sex and cyberspace with respect to attitudes and behavior, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com commissioned a survey of teens and young adults to explore electronic activity. This is the first public study of its kind to quantify the proportion of teens and young adults that are sending or posting sexually suggestive text and images.
The survey of those ages 13-26 was conducted by TRU, a global leader in research on teens and 20-somethings. The survey was fielded online to a total of 1,280 respondents—653 teens (ages 13-19) and 627 young adults (ages 20-26)—between September 25, 2008 and October 3, 2008.
Key fIndings
Note: Unless otherwise stated, teen means ages 13-19 and young adult means ages 20-26.
A significant number of teens have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves.
How many teens say they have sent/posted nude or seminude pictures or video of themselves?
- 20% of teens overall
- 22% of teen girls
- 18% of teen boys
- 11% of young teen girls (ages 13-16)
How many young adults are sending or posting nude or seminude images of themselves?
- 33% of young adults overall
- 36% of young adult women
- 31% of young adult men
Sexually suggestive messages (text, email, IM) are even more prevalent than sexually suggestive images.
How many teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages?
- 39% of all teens
- 37% of teen girls
- 40% of teen boys
- 48% of teens say they have received such messages
How many young adults are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages?
- 59% of all young adults
- 56% of young adult women
- 62% of young adult men
- 64% of young adults say they have received such messages
Although most teens and young adults who send sexually suggestive content are sending it to boyfriends / girlfriends, others say they are sending such material to those they want to hook up with or to someone they only know online.
Who are these sexually suggestive messages and images being sent to?
- 71% of teen girls and 67% of teen guys who have sent or posted sexually suggestive content say they have sent/posted this content to a boyfriend/girlfriend.
- 21% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say they have sent such content to someone they wanted to date or hook up with.
- 15% of teens who have sent or posted nude/seminude images of themselves say they have done so to someone they only knew online.
- 83% of young adult women and 75% of young adult men who have sent sexually suggestive content say they have sent/posted such material to a boyfriend/ girlfriend.
- 21% of young adult women and 30% of young adult men who have sent/posted sexually suggestive content have done so to someone they wanted to date or hook up with.
- 15% of young adult women and 23% of young adult men who have sent sexually suggestive material say they have done so to someone they only knew online.
Teens and young adults are conflicted about sending/posting sexually suggestive content—they know it’s potentially dangerous, yet many do it anyway.
How do teens and young adults feel about sending/posting sexually suggestive content?
- 75% of teens and 71% of young adults say sending sexually suggestive content “can have serious negative consequences.”
- Yet, 39% of teens and 59% of young adults have sent or posted sexually suggestive emails or text messages—and 20% of teens and 33% of young adults have sent/posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.
Teens and young adults are sending sexually explicit messages and images, even though they know such content often gets shared with those other than the intended recipient.
How common is it to share sexy messages and images with those other than the intended recipient?
- 44% of both teen girls and teen boys say it is common for sexually suggestive text messages to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.
- 36% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.
- 44% of young adult women and 50% of young adult men say it is common for sexually suggestive text messages to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.
- 48% of young adult women and 46% of young adult men say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.
Young people who receive nude/semi-nude images and sexually suggestive texts and emails are sharing them with other people for whom they were never intended.
How many teens and young adults say they have been shown nude/semi-nude content originally meant for someone else?
- 38% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say they have had sexually suggestive text messages or emails— originally meant for someone else—shared with them.
- 25% of teen girls and 33% of teen boys say they have had nude or semi-nude images—originally meant for someone else—shared with them.
- 37% of young adult women and 47% of young adult men have had sexually suggestive text messages or emails—intended for someone else—shared with them.
- 24% of young adult women and 40% of young adult men say they have had nude or semi-nude images— originally meant for someone else—shared with them.
Teens and young adults admit that sending/posting sexually suggestive content has an impact on their behavior.
Does sending sexually suggestive text and images affect what happens in real life?
- 22% of teens and 28% of young adults say they are personally more forward and aggressive using sexually suggestive words and images than they are in “real life.”
- 38% of teens and 40% of young adults say exchanging sexually suggestive content makes dating or hooking up with others more likely.
- 29% of teens and 24% of young adults believe those exchanging sexually suggestive content are “expected” to date or hook up.
Teens and young adults give many reasons for sending/posting sexually suggestive content. Most say it is a “fun and flirtatious” activity.
Why do teens and young adults send or post sexually suggestive content?
- 51% of teen girls say pressure from a guy is a reason girls send sexy messages or images; only 18% of teen boys cited pressure from female counterparts as a reason.
- 23% of teen girls and 24% of teen boys say they were pressured by friends to send or post sexual content.
Among teens who have sent sexually suggestive content:
- 66% of teen girls and 60% of teen boys say they did so to be “fun or flirtatious”— their most common reason for sending sexy content.
- 52% of teen girls did so as a “sexy present” for their boyfriend.
- 44% of both teen girls and teen boys say they sent sexually suggestive messages or images in response to such content they received.
- 40% of teen girls said they sent sexually suggestive messages or images as “a joke.”
- 34% of teen girls say they sent/posted sexually suggestive content to “feel sexy.”
- 12% of teen girls felt “pressured” to send sexually suggestive messages or images.
Among young adults who have sent sexually suggestive content:
- 72% of young adult women and 70% of young adult men say they did so to be “fun or flirtatious.”
- 59% of young adult women sent/posted sexually suggestive content as a “sexy present” for their boyfriend.
- 41% of young adult women and 51% of young adult men say they sent sexy messages or images in response to such content they received.
DefInition of Terms
To ensure accurate interpretation, respondents were shown (and reminded of) the following definitions/explanations during the survey:
- Sexually suggestive pictures/video: semi-nude or nude personal pictures/video taken of oneself and not found on the Internet, or received from a stranger (like spam), etc.
- Sexually suggestive messages: sexually suggestive written personal texts, emails IMs, etc.—and not those you might receive from a stranger (like spam), etc.
- Messages only refers to those written electronically (in emails, texts, IMs, etc.)—and pictures/video only refers to those captured electronically (on a cellphone or digital camera/camcorder), etc.
About the survey
This survey was fielded online to a total of 1,280 respondents—653 teens (ages 13-19) and 627 young adults (ages 20-26) between September 25, 2008 and October 3, 2008. It was conducted by TRU, a global leader in research on teens and 20-somethings.
At present, it is estimated that about 90% of teens and young adults are online. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in TRU’s online surveys. Respondents were stratified according to the U.S. Census and the data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of teens and young adults.
Respondents do not constitute a probability sample.
This document contains the precise language used in the survey and separate results for teens and young adults, as well as the total combined. For additional data, please visit www. TheNationalCampaign.org/sextech or contact The National Campaign at 202.478.8500.
To read the remainder of this wonderful study: by the National Campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmo Girl
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