Not-allowed sharing of sexts and dating violence from the perpetrator's perspective: The moderation role of sexism

Several studies have found that coercive sexting increases the probability of being victimized within a dating relationship. Our study focused on the perpetrator's perspective instead. It aimed to investigate the relationship between a specific sexting behavior, the sharing of someone else's sexts without his/her consent and dating violence perpetration. Specifically, we aimed to test the moderation role of benevolent and hostile sexism in this relationship. The study involved 715 Italian participants from 13 to 30 years of age (Mage = 22.01; females: 71.7%), who completed a survey composed of socio-demographic data, the Sexting Behavior Scale, the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. The results highlighted that, in the relationship between not-allowed sharing of sexts and dating violence perpetration, benevolent sexism could be a protective factor while, on the contrary, hostile sexism could be a risk factor, controlling for age, gender and sexual orientation. Our findings suggested the existence of a few factors linked to sexting behaviors: these factors could have implications for prevention programs.