Women feel obligated to send sexy nude pics: Study

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To sext or not to sext?

Women believe they need to send sexy shots of themselves while sexting to fulfill relationship expectations, according to a new study.

Researchers out of the University of Nebraska asked 207 women between the ages of 19 and 27 why they send, or have sent, “nudes” and more than one-third of respondents said they felt it was “an obligation or inherent part of being in a romantic relationship.”

However, the study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, prompted other responses on the subject.

Some women admitted they were “made to feel self-conscious about their sexual behavior” and were unable to reveal what motivated them to do so.

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Others were empowered “by the influence she exerted over her partner and by the experience of receiving positive treatment from an appreciative partner.”

And then there were the women who “were already feeling good about their bodies, wanted to initiate sex, or wanted to explore their sexuality remotely.”

The researchers found that “women are not thoughtlessly sending images of their bodies to others, but rather are acutely aware of their motivations.”

There’s the pressure, for one, as was “being repeatedly asked for it until you gave in.”

The most common response, from 35.3% of the women surveyed, considered it “relationship norm expectation.”

That expectation was followed by “because [a partner] asked (20.8%), “long distance/separation (17.4%) and “validation” (14%).

While some women admitted they sent sexy pics to appease an abusive partner, that was not a typical response.

The researchers stated: “Relationship motives were the most prevalent while violent motives, instrumental motives and drugs or alcohol use rarely (if ever) spontaneously emerged as motivations for sending nudes.”