Attitude toward Sexual Consent and Sext Dissemination Perpetration: The Mediating Role of the Empathy

Our aims were to examine the relationship between the attitude toward sexual consent and sext dissemination perpetration (that is the act of sharing received sexting messages with audiences other than their original recipient) and explore the role of empathy as possible mediator variables of this relationships. We conducted cross-sectional research employing an online survey. Our convenience sample consisted of 940 young adults (79.4% females, 20.6% males, 98.0% Italian, 69.5% heterosexual) with mean age of 24.29 years (SD = 2.89). Our findings indicated a relationship between sext dissemination perpetration and both (a lack of) perceived behavioral control (r = .068) and a positive attitude toward establishing consent (r = −.105). In addition, the relationship between a positive attitude toward establishing consent and sext dissemination perpetration was found to be mediated by empathy, specifically the subdimension of emotional contagion. These findings highlight the complexity of interplay between attitudinal and emotional factors in dissemination of sex, which should be taken into account when designing interventions as well as further research. The implications of these findings for both practice and research are discussed.