In the last 10 years cellphone and internet technology has become so good, that sending high resolution pictures to someone is a trivial task. We can send photos across the world on a plethora of different messaging apps to family and friends, or even strangers. However, with this modern convivence comes a somewhat strange downside and phenomenon, the unsolicited sexual image. Men in particular seem to be the ones sending these types of pictures. Researchers have not seen much empirical evidence as to why men send these types of pictures, but have now set out to try to shine some light on the reasoning.

The study on 1,087 heterosexual men and assessed them on their motivations for sending unsolicited sexual images, sexism, sexual behavior, narcissism, and demographic information.

The researchers found about half of men have sent unsolicited sexual images. The men who did send unsolicited sexual images tended to be younger, with higher levels of sexism and narcissism. Participants indicated that receiving sexual pictures in return, and hoping to turn on the recipient were the most common motivation for sending the unsolicited sexual images. A small number of men, about 18%, reported they sent images for their own satisfaction, while most men hoped to make the receiver of the images feel excited or attractive. A smaller minority of men, 10%, agreed with the statement “Sending dick pics gives me a feeling of control over the person that I have sent it to,” and an even smaller minority, 6%, agreed with the statement “I feel a sense of dislike towards women and sending dick pics is satisfying.”

The researcher commented that they feel the study revealed something different from people’s held beliefs about why men send unsolicited sexual images, with many believing “the main reason men send unsolicited dick pics is because they dislike women/are sexist and wish to anger, shame, or otherwise express their hostility toward women,” the research indicated something different. With men usually sending “dick pics [that] are for those of transaction (‘I’ll show you mine and you show me yours’) or partner hunting (‘you’ve seen my dick, let’s hook-up’),” and “…the reactions that men most desire from recipients are positive (feelings of attractiveness, for instance), not negative, as people often expect.” However, having “good intentions” doesn’t make it ok to send the unsolicited images
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Though it is to be noted that not all men are doing so with “good” intentions, as shown above, some are sending them for “bad” intentions, though it is a significant minority. The researchers go on to say they would like to examine women’s responses and reactions to receiving unsolicited sexual images.

Original article: https://www.psypost.org/2019/09/new-psychology-research-reveals-mens-motives-for-sending-unsolicited-dick-pics-54420

Study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2019.1639036