Researchers of a new study found that 48 percent of college sexters lie while sending out sexy texts.
A recent online survey of college students revealed that more than half of those who indulge in such activities lie while doing so.
Over 20 percent of adolescents and 44 percent young adults indulge in "sexting", the act of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves over the cell phone or social networking sites, according to a recent survey by Guardchild, an organisation for protecting children in the digital world.
"This already exists in face-to-face interactions, like with orgasms it's common," lead author Michelle Drouin told Reuters Health. "I expected people would also be 'faking it' in sexts."
For the study, 155 college students who had been in at least one committed relationship were given an anonymous online survey about their sexting histories. The survey included questions like how many times the participants had lied to their partner about what they were wearing or doing while sexting. It also gathered information about the participants' opinion about relationships and commitments. At the end of the survey, participants were asked to complete an optional "fill-in-the-blanks" section that asked them questions about why they lied.
Researchers found that 37 percent of people who had been in a committed relationship and 48 percent of active sexters had lied about what they were wearing, doing, or both. As for casual sex partners, only 13 percent lied. Among these people 66 percent of them said they did it to satisfy their partner while the rest admitted to doing it to satisfy themselves. Researchers also noted that women were twice as likely to lie while texting compared to men.
Some of them even admitted to using the app SnapChat to send photos instead of just texting
"Women are more likely to fake orgasm than men, for obvious reasons, but more likely to pretend enthusiasm as well," Drouin said, according to NY Daily News. "Women lie to serve other people more than men (do)."
A word of caution to those who lie about orgasms - your sexual partner knows you're faking it, according to a recent study.
Drouin said that deception over the phone is so easy that it's become a serious concern, especially since sexting is so common among the current generation. A previous McAfee study found that 70 percent of 18-24-year-olds have "received sexually explicitly texts, videos, or pictures."
Researchers speculate that people who are insecure about their relationships or want to avoid closeness with their romantic partner are more likely to lie.
"Sexting is a way to avoid intimacy," Rob Weisskirch, professor of human development at California State University Monterey Bay in Seaside, said according to Fox News. He was not involved in the new study. "One would think that by the time you're engaging in sexting, there would be some relationship established and you would want to be truthful with your partner. But sexting might in fact be a tool for people who don't want to commit to relationships."
The Driving Force being Sexting
In order to examine the principal drivers of this activity, a team of researchers conducted a study and were surprised by their findings. Friends and romantic partners were found to be the main source of social sexting pressure among adolescents and this was even greater than an adolescent's own attitude towards the whole activity, the researchers noted.
"Remarkably, only the behavioral beliefs that expected positive outcomes of sexting were significant in predicting adolescents' willingness to engage in it," authors of the study noted in a statement. "The more positive the perceived social pressure that originates from these two categories of referents -- who mostly belong to the peer group -- the more adolescents will be inclined to engage in sexting."
Researchers of another study found that most people indulge in "sexting" in hopes that it would lead to sexual activity or a potential "hook-up." In an earlier study, Drouin found that 55 percent of women and 48 percent of men have participated in "consensual or unwanted sexting."
The current study was published online in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
