The master’s thesis explores the phenomenon of sexting, its prevalence, its connection to the use of social media, and its impact on the self-image and social anxiety of individuals in Slovenia. The theoretical part summarizes the authors' starting points and research findings in the fields of digital (sexual) communication, risky online behaviour, and psychosocial factors that influence participation in sexting, and highlights individual dimensions of this phenomenon, including motivation, risks, and possible consequences for individuals. This is followed by an empirical part in the form of a quantitative study conducted in Slovenia, in which 511 voluntary participants over the age of 18 who completed the questionnaire in full took part. The findings show that sexting is a widespread phenomenon among adults, with 62 percent admitting to having sent or received a message with sexually suggestive or provocative content at least once in the past year. The second finding shows that men participated in sexting more often than women (68 percent of men and 57 percent of women). The third finding shows that participants with higher perceived social anxiety were more likely to engage in risky forms of sexting, and a negative association with self-image was also found. The fourth finding shows that anxiety is not directly related to more frequent sharing of sexually suggestive content. The fifth finding shows that relationship status does not have a statistically significant effect on sexting. The sixth finding shows that there are no statistically significant differences between the sexes in sending or receiving sexually suggestive or provocative content, but there is a statistically significant difference in forwarding such content.
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