Teens engage in sexting to enhance their
popularity in the peer group, according to a new study. Although very
few studies have asked 'why' adolescents choose to participate in
sexting or the use of mobile porn, those that have asked 'why'
continually point to the influence of peer group dynamics, researchers
said. "We felt that a possible explanation for the fact that teenagers
engage in sexting practices despite the obvious risks, could lie in the
role of powerful peer group dynamics such as peer pressure and
popularity," said researcher Dr Mariek Vanden Abeele from Leuven School
for Mass Communication Research, University of Leuven, Belgium. "We
also noticed that teenagers' mobile porn use received little attention
from both scholars and public opinion leaders, while current research
suggests that this behaviour is fairly prevalent among teens," Abeele
said. Drawing from the results of a large scale quantitative survey
study, the new study examined how four key aspects of peer group
dynamics, namely same-sex popularity, other-sex popularity, perceived
peer pressure and need for popularity, are associated with sexting and
mobile porn use among teenagers ages 11-20. "A first interesting result
in the study, is that for boys sexting was associated with higher
(self-perceived) popularity among both boys and girls, while girls who
reported having sent a sext indicated perceiving themselves as more
popular among boys, but less popular among girls," said Abeele. "A
second interesting result from our study is that mobile porn use was
reported almost exclusively by male respondents, particularly by boys
who experienced greater peer pressure. "This finding aligns with what
we know from earlier work on the consumption of magazine and video
pornography in male peer groups, and suggests that downloading and
exchanging mobile porn may be at least as much about proving one's
'manliness' to others as it is about achieving sexual arousal," Abeele
said. Abeele said the results of this study suggest that, in the eyes
of teenagers, sexting and mobile porn use do bring short-term benefits
in terms of enhancing popularity in the peer group that may in fact
outweigh potential long-term risks associated with these behaviours.
The study was published in Routledge's Media Psychology.
BULLION ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS MODI The Bombay Bullion Association Ltd (BBA), the apex body of bullion and jewellery bodies in the country, has announced its support for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate. BBA president Mohit Kamboj along with some others joined BJP in the presence of senior party leader Gopinath Munde here yesterday. BBA had extended its support to Modi as the UPA government had brought about a "policy paralysis" in the economy, Kamboj said. "There are over 50 lakh workers associated with the bullion and gold industry, which has been facing the brunt of the current policies of the UPA government. "We at BBA strongly believe that a Modi-led NDA government would normalise the industry by introducing friendly policies," he added. Members of Bharat Diamond Bourse have said they will host Modi at a function at Bandra-Kurla Complex here on Sept. 30. BJP president Rajnath Singh had last ...

Comments
Post a Comment