title: Sexy online self-presentation on social network sites and the willingness to engage in sexting: A comparison of gender and age.
abstract: The present study investigated whether engaging in sexy self-presentations on social network sites (SNSs) or exposure to sexy self-presentations on SNSs predicts the willingness to engage in sexting. A second aim of the present study was to investigate whether adolescent girls demonstrate stronger relationships between (exposure to) sexy online self-presentations on SNSs and willingness to sext than adolescent boys and young adult men and women. A two-wave panel survey among 953 Dutch adolescents (13-17 years old, 50.7% male) and 899 Dutch young adults (18-25 years old, 43.9% male) showed that engaging in sexy self-presentations on SNSs increased the willingness to engage in sexting, but only among adolescent girls. Exposure to sexy self-presentations of others did not predict the willingness to engage in sexting. The findings call for more research on the role of gender and age in the link between sexy self-presentation and sexting.
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15791, 1001 NG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.m.f.vanoosten@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Johanna M F
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: van Oosten
authors.affiliation: Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen) Associated with School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven, Parkstraat 42, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; MIOS (Media, ICT, and Interpersonal Relations in Organizations and Society), University of Antwerp, Sint-Jacobsstraat 2, 2000, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vandenbosch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescents; Self-perception; Self-presentation; Sexting; Social media; Young adults