The world of camming is shrouded in misconceptions. While most people work so they can pay their bills, one unfair view of cam models is that they are strictly in the business for money.
But a recent study flips the script and shows that it’s about more than earning a paycheck.
In fact, this survey reveals that cam models’ motivations for getting intimate with virtual clients and real-life partners are surprisingly similar.
Money does play a big role. However, paid online camming relationships may offer performers some of the same perks as real-life relationships.
What is camming?
Camming is a type of sex work where performers, called “cam models,” put on virtual shows for the viewers’ pleasure. Unlike typical porn, cam shows happen in real time, with the cam models and their audience interacting live. The performances involve a mix of video, audio, and text-based chatting.
Camming is the fastest-growing sector of the sex industry, making up 20% of the adult entertainment world.
Some models get paid by the minute for their live streams, while others receive a percentage from each performance. Beyond financial incentives, there are plenty of reasons why cam models do what they do.
Cam model motivations
Researchers from the University of Latvia surveyed 80 cam models and published their findings in a 2023 article in the journal Frontier in Psychology.
Co-author Anna Kelberg, a licensed counseling psychologist and Ph.D. candidate, explores sexual motivation between individuals in monogamous and non-monogamous relationships.
“It was clear to me that many people who have two or three partners would do so to fulfill their different needs. However, I wanted to see how sexual motivation changes for someone who is regularly engaging with multiple partners,” she said.
“Within the vast spectrum of non-monogamous experiences, sex workers emerged as profoundly compelling subjects, embodying the pinnacle of non-monogamous dynamics.”
Of the 80 virtual sex workers interviewed, 76 identified as women and 4 as non-binary, trans, or gender fluid. They were between 20 and 49 years of age.
56% were in committed relationships, about 19% in non-committed ones, with a quarter being single.
These cam models worked at a Canadian adult website that caters to kink and fetish enthusiasts: a niche platform specialized in one-on-one services, such as adult chat, phone sex, sexting, and video sex chat.
To measure their motivation for sexual activity, the cam models surveyed were given a list of sixteen reasons. They were then asked how often each one encouraged them to be intimate, both with their real-life partners or their online companions.
16 reasons
- Stress reduction
- Pleasure
- Physical desirability
- Seeking new experiences or acting out sexual fantasies
- Seeking resources, such as money or a promotion
- Enhance social status
- Revenge, to hurt or make someone jealous
- Utilitarian reasons, like burning calories, getting rid of a headache, or keeping warm
- Love and commitment
- Expressing their feelings, such as gratitude or being sorry
- Self-esteem boost
- Duty or pressure
- Seeking a specific sex act, such as anal sex or one that involves kink or a fetish
- Sex with a specific gender
- Thrill of the forbidden
The results
Cam models gave the same top four reasons for getting frisky with both virtual and real-life partners. While the order varied slightly, these reasons they were motivated to participate in camming, beyond the paycheck were: pleasure, physical desirability, experience seeking, as well as love and commitment.
What is really interesting here? Even though money matters, it didn’t even break the top five reasons why cam models said they had virtual sex with clients. It came in at number six, just after seeking sex for a self-esteem boost.
“I find it even more fascinating that (sex workers) engage in sexual activity with their clients mostly for the same reasons as with their real-life partners,” said Kelberg.
“This reveals that regardless of the transactional nature of sex work, engaging in consensual sexual activity is still driven by common factors, such as pleasure, physical attraction, emotional and creative expression, and self-esteem enhancement.”
Top reasons cited for sex with virtual clients vs real-life partners
| Motivation | Virtual client | Real-life partner |
| Pleasure | 1 | 1 |
| Physical desirability | 2 | 2 |
| Experience seeking | 3 | 4 |
| Love and committment | 4 | 3 |
| Self-esteem boost | 5 | 6 |
| Resources | 6 | 11 |
| Stress reduction | 7 | 5 |
To dive deeper, the researchers further compared the degree of motivation cam models had to engage sexually with their real-life partners versus their online partners.
What did the data reveal?
In line with the study’s expectations, cam models were more inclined to have virtual romps with clients to gain resources and enjoy specific sex acts. But when it came to seeking pleasure, physical desire, or expressing love and commitment, cam models preferred to save their passion for real-life partners.
That said, researchers found no significant differences between the levels of motivation for several other reasons that may influence sexual activity. This included relieving stress, seeking new experiences, boosting self-esteem, emotional expression, allure of taboo, feeling obligated, mate guarding, desire for a partner of a different gender, utilitarian reasons, social status, and revenge.
On love, kink, and camming
Not surprisingly, cam models felt more motivated to get it on with their virtual clients than with their real-life partners for financial reasons. After all, money sets their work apart from other erotic activities.
It also made sense to researchers that they were more inspired to engage in kink or fetish acts with their clients, given the niche platform they were working on.
Still, the virtual work environment itself likely played an important role, argued the researchers.
Online platforms offer a certain level of privacy and anonymity, which allows people to explore their sexual desires without worrying about being recognized or judged. This sense of detachment from their real-life selves and the opportunity to discreetly dive into kinky interests may make cam models more motivated to explore them with online partners rather than their real-life ones.
Anastasia Pierce is a member of the Creator Success Team for the adult fan site Loyal Fans. An experienced creator with a strong background in kink and fetish, she told le Shaw about her motivations for camming with clients.
“It definitely boosted my confidence to further explore my sexuality and fetishes through film, photos, and collaborations with real-life, other performers. It also made me feel desirable and significantly boosted my self-confidence,” she said.
Working online also offered her exposure to a wider and more diverse virtual audience.
“It felt easier and safe as well,” said Pierce.
More than a paycheck
What’s left to explain is why as standalone reasons, love and commitment ranked over bringing in the bucks and seeking a specific sex act.
Just getting a paycheck often isn’t enough to keep people motivated to do their work. According to the late American psychologist Frederick Herzberg, it’s a “hygiene factor” that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Hygiene factors, which are external to the job, help reduce dissatisfaction at work. They include the quality of interpersonal relationships, company policies and administration, supervision, and working conditions, in addition to salary.
The findings of this study support the idea of “temporary bounded authenticity”, a concept coined in 2007 by the American sociologist Elizabeth Bernstein. Basically, it proposes that in the modern era of digital sex work, there’s often a sense of authenticity, involving eroticism, and emotional and physical connection, even if that exchange is temporary.
More studies needed
We still know relatively little about what motivates cam models and online sex workers to do what they do. There’s a shortage of studies that explore the reasons behind their choice to enter this industry. While these survey results shed some light on the inner desires of cam models, more research on the nuances of consensual sex work is needed.
Like any other job, cam models do it for the money, but that’s just one part of the story.
