"Pedersen honed in on two major reasons why men [who send dick pics] are motivated to do this. The first was a transactional mindset; they send these images in the hope that they’ll get some nudes in return. Or, fingers crossed, it will lead to a RL hookup. “The second most popular reason was what we called partner hunting,” says Pedersen. “They believe sending dick pics is an appropriate form of flirting with someone, this is how you let someone know that you’re interested in them, that you’re attracted to them. That you want to have a connection with them.”
When asked what they were hoping to get out of sending these images, a whopping 82 percent of respondents were hoping to make the person who received the image feel “sexual excitement .” “This is quite contrary to the popularly endorsed belief that men send these pics hoping to get shock,” says Pedersen. “They believe they’re going to turn someone on. The top three hoped-for reactions were positive; men were hoping for sexual excitement from the part of the recipient, they hoped the recipient would feel attractive, and they hoped the recipient would feel valued.”
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7xgaje/men-who-send-unsolicited-dick-pics-are-bigger-narcissists-study-finds
When asked what they were hoping to get out of sending these images, a whopping 82 percent of respondents were hoping to make the person who received the image feel “sexual excitement .” “This is quite contrary to the popularly endorsed belief that men send these pics hoping to get shock,” says Pedersen. “They believe they’re going to turn someone on. The top three hoped-for reactions were positive; men were hoping for sexual excitement from the part of the recipient, they hoped the recipient would feel attractive, and they hoped the recipient would feel valued.”
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7xgaje/men-who-send-unsolicited-dick-pics-are-bigger-narcissists-study-finds