Sexting: Adaptation of sexual behavior to modern technologies

Abstract This is the first research that aim to analyze the practice of Sexting in Portugal. The goals of this study included comparing the differences between the Sexting dimensions and independent factors (gender, age, literacy qualifications, profession, residence, marital status, existence of a stable relationship, most used media, place of frequent use of the media, most commonly used technological device, security perception of communication technology, number of text messages sent per day, recipients of text messages) and corroborating the existence of correlations between the Sexting dimensions. The study sample consisted of 301 individuals aged between 18 and 52 years (158 adults and 143 young adults) and included both females (169) and males (132). The instruments used included a translated and adapted version of the Sex and Tech Survey, created by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and the elaboration of 7 social and demographic questions and 6 questions about media consumption and daily technology use. The results showed that environment exposure was higher in males as well as in the group of individuals of both sexes who sent approximately 76–90 written messages per day. By contrast, positive emotions and the development of greater interest in Sexting were higher in women. Positive emotions were higher in young adults, students of both sexes and unemployed persons.