Sexting ‘may have’ a negative effect on your relationship

You may enjoy sharing sexual messages with a significant other but it could be negatively impacting your relationship, says a new study.

According to a survey conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta, the adverse effects of sexting cut across sexualities, ages, educations and ethnicities.

To arrive at the findings, the researchers carried out a relationship survey on 615 people.

It was found that couples who regularly exchanged suggestive text messages had greater sexual satisfaction compared to those who didn’t but they also reported a higher degree of couple conflict.

Frequent sexters also admitted that they felt insecure in their relationships, showed lower levels of commitment and were far less satisfied with other aspects of their relationships.

Adam Galovan, the lead author of the study, elaborated on the findings.

“My interpretation is that the sexters are focusing more on the sexual part of their relationship and may be neglecting other areas,” he said.

“Unsurprisingly, sexters also reported a high degree of “technology interference” in their relationships, i.e. using phones during face-to-face conversations, meals or down time with their partner.

“These folks want to get to the end goal – a good relationship – without doing the hard work of talking, listening and spending quality time together.”

Galovan advocated for more physical conversations between couples.

He said: “They need to put the phone down and have a good old-fashioned conversation – spend some time together nurturing the relationship – instead of shortcutting with sexting to try to get a quality relationship.”

The study was published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.