Uganda, March 14 -- Why do people sext? Why do they send racy or naked photos or videos and sexually loaded texts?

For a short-term hookup, sexting might seem like a direct way to get what you want, or at least try to. But according to research, sexting is actually most likely to occur within a committed relationship. Some research suggests that people often engage in sexting after being coerced by romantic partners or to avoid an argument with their romantic partner. So, perhaps anxiety and concern about what your romantic partner thinks about you promote behaviours such as sexting.

As a human development researcher who studies how technology influences relationships, the writer of this article wanted to understand if people who are an...