There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify specific social-cognitive factors that may influence the likelihood of engaging in sexting, and potential positive and negative outcomes of such behaviors, in adults. We asked 244 adult participants (64.5% women) to complete a set of online measures reflecting sexting engagement, social-cognitive factors (definitions, differential association, differential reinforcement, and imitation), and outcomes of sexting behavior (risky sexual behavior appraisal, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction). Results showed that 77.6% of our sample had sexted. Sexting in the context of a romantic relationship was predicted by differential reinforcement and friend imitation, while positive definitions of sexting alone predicted sexting someone outside the context of a romantic relationship. This indicates that motivations for sexting engagement may be context specific in adulthood. Those who had sexted demonstrated significantly higher sexual satisfaction than those who had never sexted. However, sexting outside of a romantic relationship predicted reduced perceived risk and heightened perceived benefit of engaging in real-life risky sexual behaviors. This suggests there may be both positive and negative implications of sexting engagement in adulthood.Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Attachment insecurity has been associated with dysfunctional strategies for emotion regulation, leading to inflexible or maladaptive responding. Currently, application of the attachment framework to anger is underspecified. This study presents a preliminary investigation of attachment-related differences in the dispositional regulation of anger and aggressive outcomes. 270 participants completed measures of adult attachment (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance), anger regulation processes (anger suppression, unregulated anger and anger control) and aggressive outcomes (physical aggression, verbal aggression and hostility). While those high in attachment anxiety have been found to under-regulate other negative emotions, our results postulate that these individuals may implement a suppression strategy when faced with the experience of anger. Mediation models indicate that anger suppression is implicated in the relationship between attachment dimensions and hostility, but not physical aggression. This supports the notion that suppression may be useful in reducing the external expression of anger, but cannot alleviate the associated internal cognitions. These findings suggest that levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance should be considered when identifying techniques to target specific anger regulatory difficulties that contribute to increased aggression. Further, consideration and exploration of the role of security priming is encouraged as a possible mechanism by which to reduce dispositional hostility in those with high levels of attachment insecurity

Technology has given rise to online behaviors such as sexting. It is important that we examine predictors of such behavior in order to understand who is more likely to sext and thus inform intervention aimed at sexting awareness. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine sexting beliefs and behavior. Participants (n = 418; 70.3% women) completed questionnaires assessing attitudes (instrumental and affective), subjective norms (injunctive and descriptive), control perceptions (self-efficacy and controllability) and intentions toward sexting. Specific sexting beliefs (fun/carefree beliefs, perceived risks and relational expectations) were also measured and sexting behavior reported. Relationship status, instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm and self-efficacy were associated with sexting intentions. Relationship status, intentions and self-efficacy related to sexting behavior. Results provide insight into the social-cognitive factors related to individuals’ sexting behavior and bring us closer to understanding what beliefs predict the behavior.