Digital Technologies and Sex

2020 ◽  
pp. 240-250
Author(s):  
Shane W. Kraus ◽  
Marc N. Potenza
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Sexual Activities ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
Adolescents And Adults

The Internet has revolutionized the way in which we consume and participate in sexual activities. Digital technologies are shaping the ways in which people interact with one another romantically and sexually. This chapter reviews some of the ways in which digital technologies are potentially shaping sexual behaviors, especially those of adolescents and young adults. Evidence suggests that technologies are facilitating increasingly more sexual activities among young people and adults, yet our understanding of these remains incomplete. The Internet has made pornography highly accessible to most individuals around the world, but the effects of frequent pornography use on individuals’ sexual beliefs and practices remain largely unknown. Sexting is also common among adolescents and adults, with some initial evidence finding that sexting was a partial mediator between problematic alcohol use and sexual hookups. More work on sexting behaviors is needed, particularly among vulnerable populations or groups at risk for exploitation. The wide use of smartphone applications designed to help users find casual sex partners are becoming more common, mirroring the increasing acceptability of having relationally uncommitted sex among young adults. More research is needed to investigate the influences of digital technologies on shaping the sexual practices of adolescents and emerging adults who may be spending increasingly more time online. Furthermore, more research is needed to examine both the potential benefits and risks associated with digital technologies that may facilitate sexual behaviors.

The Use of Online Pornography as Compensation for Loneliness and Lack of Social Ties Among Israeli Adolescents

2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1865-1882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaniv Efrati ◽  
Yair Amichai-Hamburger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Activity ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Sexual Activities ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Online Pornography ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
The Impact

The Internet provides people with the ability to act anonymously, which may lead them to feel secure and to release them from many of their inhibitions. In many cases, this leads them to participate in cybersex activities and online pornography. This study examined the psychological factors behind young people’s sexual behavior online. Participants comprised 713 Israeli adolescents (383 boys and 330 girls) aged 14 to 18 years. Our results indicated that the impact of loneliness on online sexual activity and frequency of pornography use was dependent on participants’ attachment orientations. Engagement in online sexual activities and use of pornography were high among anxiously attached individuals regardless of the extent of their loneliness. Loneliness was found to increase the use of online sexual activities and pornography, only among secure and anxiously avoidant individuals. Online sexual activity and pornography were also found to be related to offline sexual activity. The results are described and discussed.

Emerging Adult Sexual Behavior

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-64
Author(s):  
Sara A. Vasilenko
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Vaginal Intercourse ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Sizeable Minority

By emerging adulthood, the majority of individuals have engaged in some types of sexual behavior. However, during this period there is considerable variability and change in the prevalence of recent sexual behaviors and their relationship contexts. This chapter reviews the literature on the prevalence of multiple sexual behaviors, focusing on data from nationally representative studies where possible. Findings suggest that most emerging adults engage in behaviors such as kissing, oral sex, and vaginal intercourse during emerging adulthood, with peak prevalence of these behaviors in the late twenties or early thirties. Other behaviors, such as partnered masturbation, anal sex, and kink behaviors are also practiced by a sizeable minority of individuals. Although many individuals engage in casual sex during emerging adulthood, most instances of sexual behavior occur in relationships. Differences in sexual behavior across several subgroups are discussed, with a particular focus on gender and sexual orientation.

Brief Report

2021 ◽  
pp. 295-311
Author(s):  
Angela M. Kaufman-Parks ◽  
Monica A. Longmore ◽  
Wendy D Manning ◽  
Peggy C. Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Peer Influence ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sex Partners ◽  
Adolescent Relationships ◽  
Lifetime Number ◽  
Intimate Partnerships

Much prior research acknowledges that peers influence adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Yet few studies have explored whether and how peers influence sexual decision making among emerging adults, especially among those in committed intimate partnerships, while also accounting for dynamics specific to the intimate relationship and respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, this report examined multiple aspects of peer influence on three different sexual behaviors among emerging adults: sexual non-exclusivity, number of casual sex partners, and lifetime number of sex partners. It was found that having more sexually liberal peers and peers who engaged in criminal activity significantly influenced emerging adults’ self-reported numbers of casual and lifetime sex partners, as well as the frequency of engagement in sexually non-exclusive behaviors among those in committed dating, cohabiting, and marital partnerships. This report discusses potential theoretical mechanisms linking these relationships and provides suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Young adult sexual health: current and prior sexual behaviours among non-Hispanic white US college students

Sexual Health ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny A. Higgins ◽  
James Trussell ◽  
Nelwyn B. Moore ◽  
J. Kenneth Davidson
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Anal Intercourse ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Oral Sex ◽  
Vaginal Intercourse ◽  
Sexual Activities ◽  
Hispanic White

Background: Less is known about the sexual health of young adults than about adolescents, despite 20 to 24-year-olds’ greater risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmissible infections. This paper provides information on college students’ prior and current sexual practices including oral sex, vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse and masturbation. Methods: We analysed data from a cross-sectional sexuality survey of students from two university campuses in the USA, one Mid-western and one South-western (n = 1504). The sample consisted of non-Hispanic white, never-married students who identified as heterosexual. Results: Of 16 possible combinations of four sexual activities (solitary masturbation, oral sex, vaginal intercourse and anal intercourse), only four contained more than 5% of respondents: masturbation, oral sex and vaginal intercourse (37%); oral sex and vaginal intercourse only (20%); all four (14%); and none (8%). Twenty percent had ever engaged in anal intercourse. Women were significantly less likely than men to have ever masturbated (48 v. 92%). Analyses exhibited several sexual health challenges, including lack of verbal sexual consent, alcohol use proximal to sex and lack of contraceptive use. Conclusions: Although few young adults are substituting it for vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse is increasingly common and safer sex efforts should encourage condom use during both sexual activities. Masturbation should be encouraged as an alternative to higher risk sexual practices and an essential aspect of sexual well being. Finally, practitioners should continue to address specific threats to college students’ sexual health, including alcohol use and non-verbal consent.

scholarly journals Influence of Contraception Use on the Reproductive Health of Adolescents and Young Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Fehring ◽  
Thomas Bouchard ◽  
Maria Meyers
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Sexual Debut ◽  
Hormonal Contraception ◽  
Sexual Partners ◽  
Adolescents And Young Adults ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Contraception Use

Oral contraceptives (OCs) are often prescribed to adolescents and young adults for the treatment of health problems and to avoid unwanted pregnancies. We hypothesized that the use of OCs, among adolescents and young adults, is associated with a greater likelihood of pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and sexual behaviors that will enhance those problems (i.e., earlier sexual debut and more sexual partners) than adolescents and young adults not using OCs. To test this hypothesis, data from 1,365 adolescents and young adults in the 2011–2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) were used to describe the influence of ever use of OCs on ever having sex, sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, STDs, PID, pregnancy, and abortion. A secondary purpose was to evaluate protective factors from unhealthy sexual practices like religiosity, church attendance, and intact families. We found that the “ever use” of OCs by US adolescents and young adults results in a greater likelihood of ever having sex, STDs, PID, pregnancy, and abortion compared with those adolescents and young adults who never used OCs. Furthermore, those adolescents who ever used OCs had significantly more male sexual partners than those who never used OCs, and they also had an earlier sexual debut by almost two years. Conversely, we found that frequent church attendance, identification of the importance of religion, and having an intact family among adolescents were associated with less likelihood of unsafe sexual practices. We concluded that the use of OCs by adolescents and young adults might be considered a health risk. Further research is recommended to confirm these associations. Summary: The purpose of this article was to show the correlation between contraceptive use in adolescents and negative sexual outcomes. We used data from the 2011–2013 NSFG and demonstrated that never married adolescents who used oral hormonal contraception were three times more likely to have an STD, have PID, and to become pregnant, and, surprisingly, ten times more likely of having an abortion compared to noncontracepting adolescents. These are outcomes that contraception is intended to prevent. These data also showed that the contraceptors had significantly more male partners than their contraceptive counterparts. Protective factors such as church attendance and family cohesiveness were associated with a decreased likelihood of sexual activity.

scholarly journals Dating gone mobile: Demographic and personality-based correlates of using smartphone-based dating applications among emerging adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sindy R Sumter ◽  
Laura Vandenbosch
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Smartphone Applications ◽  
Sexual Permissiveness ◽  
Dating Apps ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Dating Anxiety

Mobile dating is more common with an increasing number of smartphone applications coming to market that aim to facilitate dating. In the current study, we investigated how dating app use and motivations related to demographic identity variables (i.e. gender and sexual orientation) and personality-based variables among young adults. Nearly half of the sample used dating apps regularly, with Tinder being the most popular. Non-users were more likely to be heterosexual, high in dating anxiety, and low in sexual permissiveness than dating app users. Among app users, dating app motivations, that is, relational goal motivations (love, casual sex), intrapersonal goal motivations (self-worth validation, ease of communication), and entertainment goal motivations (thrill of excitement, trendiness), were meaningfully related to identity features, for example, sexual permissiveness was related to the casual sex motive. Our study underlines that users’ identity drives their motivations for and engagement in mobile dating. However, more research is needed to study how sexual orientation influences mobile dating.

scholarly journals An Examination of Twitter Data to Identify Risky Sexual Practices Among Youth and Young Adults in Botswana

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Cornelius ◽  
Anna Kennedy ◽  
Ryan Wesslen
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Youth And Young Adults ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Twitter Users

Botswana has the third highest rate of HIV infection, as well as one of the highest mobile phone density rates in the world. The rate of mobile cell phone adoption has increased three-fold over the past 10 years. Due to HIV infection rates, youth and young adults are the primary target for prevention efforts. One way to improve prevention efforts is to examine how risk reduction messages are disseminated on social media platforms such as Twitter. Thus, to identify key words related to safer sex practices and HIV prevention, we examined three months of Twitter data in Botswana. 1 December 2015, was our kick off date, and we ended data collection on 29 February 2016. To gather the tweets, we searched for HIV-related terms in English and in Setswana. From the 140,240 tweets collected from 251 unique users, 576 contained HIV-related terms. A representative sample of 25 active Twitter users comprised individuals, one government site and 2 organizations. Data revealed that tweets related to HIV prevention and AIDS did not occur more frequently during the month of December when compared to January and February (t = 3.62, p > 0.05). There was no significant difference between the numbers of HIV related tweets that occurred from 1 December 2015 to 29 February 2016 (F = 32.1, p > 0.05). The tweets occurred primarily during the morning and evening hours and on Tuesdays followed by Thursdays and Fridays. The least number of tweets occurred on Sunday. The highest number of followers was associated with the Botswana government Twitter site. Twitter analytics was found to be useful in providing insight into information being tweeted regarding risky sexual behaviors.

scholarly journals Sexual Hookup Culture: A Review

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin R. Garcia ◽  
Chris Reiber ◽  
Sean G. Massey ◽  
Ann M. Merriwether
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Sexual Scripts ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hookup Culture

“Hookups,” or uncommitted sexual encounters, are becoming progressively more engrained in popular culture, reflecting both evolved sexual predilections and changing social and sexual scripts. Hook-up activities may include a wide range of sexual behaviors, such as kissing, oral sex, and penetrative intercourse. However, these encounters often transpire without any promise of, or desire for, a more traditional romantic relationship. A review of the literature suggests that these encounters are becoming increasingly normative among adolescents and young adults in North America, representing a marked shift in openness and acceptance of uncommitted sex. We reviewed the current literature on sexual hookups and considered the multiple forces influencing hookup culture, using examples from popular culture to place hooking up in context. We argue that contemporary hookup culture is best understood as the convergence of evolutionary and social forces during the developmental period of emerging adulthood. We suggest that researchers must consider both evolutionary mechanisms and social processes, and be considerate of the contemporary popular cultural climate in which hookups occur, in order to provide a comprehensive and synergistic biopsychosocial view of “casual sex” among emerging adults today.

scholarly journals Pornography Use Profiles and the Emergence of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Pirrone ◽  
Mariëlle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg ◽  
Ellen Reitz ◽  
Regina J. J. M. van den Eijnden ◽  
Tom F. M. ter Bogt
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Sexual Development ◽  
Oral Sex ◽  
Mixture Analysis ◽  
Sexual Activities ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Pornography Consumption ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
Middle Adolescence ◽  
Growth Mixture Analysis

AbstractThis research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T1. At T4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T1. At T4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BOREDOM PRONENESS AND SOLITARY SEXUAL BEHAVIORS IN ADULTS

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamel Gana ◽  
Raphael Trouillet ◽  
Bettina Martin ◽  
Leatitia Toffart
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Analysis Of Variance ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Sexual Activities ◽  
Boredom Proneness ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between boredom proneness and some solitary sexual activities among adults such as masturbating and viewing pornographic films. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that sexual unsatisfaction and boredom proneness were significant predictors of people's engaging in such activities, and the analysis of variance revealed that highly boredom-prone individuals were more likely to engage in such solitary sexual practices than were lower boredom-prone individuals.

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