Sexting: Young women's and men's views on its nature and origins

Abstract

Purpose: This study addresses a gap in evidence regarding the nature and origins of the phenomenon of sexting from the perspective of young people. Methods: A qualitative methodology was used, involving individual semistructured interviews with 33 young people aged 15-20 years. Participants were sourced via youth health, recreational, and educational settings using purposive snowball sampling. Results were organized using NVivo, and themes were generated. Results: Interviews with 15 males and 18 females exposed a number of themes, including the gendered nature of sexting, which is the focus of this article. Of particular concern is the theme of pressure experienced by both young women and yo..