Cyber-Flirting

CyberPsychology & Behavior

2003

Self Cite

156

116

Pushing the wrong buttons 2 2 ABSTRACT Despite current researchers' interest in the study of online sexual addiction, there is a dearth of research available on what constitutes online infidelity. This paper attempts to redress this balance by comparing 1117 participants' attitudes toward online and offline acts of infidelity. A factor analysis was carried out which yielded three components of infidelity: sexual infidelity, emotional infidelity and pornography.More importantly, this study revealed that online acts of betrayal do not fall into a discrete category of their own. A MANOVA was performed and revealed a statistically significant difference on the combined dependent variables for the interaction of gender by age, age by relationship status and Internet sexual experience.The hypotheses were, in part, supported. However, counter to what was predicted, in the main younger people were more likely to rate sexual acts as acts of betrayal than older individuals. It is concluded here that individuals do perceive some online interactions to be acts of betrayal. In contrast to some researchers' claims, it is suggested here that we do need to consider how bodies are reconstructed online.Moreover, these results have important implications for any treatment rationale for infidelity (both online and offline).

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pushing the Wrong Buttons: Men's and Women's Attitudes toward Online and Offline Infidelity

CyberPsychology & Behavior

2003

Self Cite

156

116

“…We would like to extend on these theorists' work to explore the possibilities of cyberspace as potential space (see also Whitty, 2003). Some theorists have suggested that cyberspace is a place where people are liberated to be whoever they want to be (e.g., Turkle, 1996).…”

Section: Winnicott Was Very Interested In What He Called the Potentiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyberspace as Potential Space: Considering the Web as a Playground to Cyber-Flirt

Carr

2003

Human Relations

This article compares traditional offline flirting with cyber-flirting. We begin by providing a definition of offline flirting, which we follow up with our own elaboration of cyber-flirting. The article then draws from psychoanalytic theory, in particular Winnicott's object-relations theory, to propose that cyber-flirting can be a form of play. While this is not an empirical study, we do attempt to present a theoretical framework for the conception of cyberspace. In presenting this framework, we draw from past qualitative and quantitative studies on Internet relationships. We emphasise the problems with past researchers' obsessive attention to the absence of the body online, and suggest that new theorising on Internet relationships needs to consider how the body is re-constructed. We propose that cyberspace can be what Winnicott would describe as a "potential space" for play, and this particularly applies to online spaces, such as MUDs, MOOs and Chat Rooms. In addition, we suggest that cyberflirting may promote psychological growth, but it may also become a destructive and exploitative behaviour directed towards 'others'. We conclude this paper by pointing out the therapeutic implications of considering cyber-flirting as a form of play. It is intended that this paper may assist our conceptualisation of this under researched area of cyber-interactions. (Bakhtin -cited in Green, 2001, p.159)

“…We have previously proposed that cyberspace could be understood as potential space (Whitty, 2003b;Whitty & Carr, 2003). We have argued this in respect to cyberflirting and the games people play at love on the Internet.…”

Section: Getting Beyond the Problems: Conceptualising Cyberspacementioning

confidence: 99%

New rules in the workplace: Applying object-relations theory to explain problem Internet and email behaviour in the workplace

Computers in Human Behavior

Carr

2006

While the Internet and email can be great assets to an organisation, especially in respect to creating new knowledge, nonetheless a number of problems have accompanied the introduction of the Internet into the workplace. Some of these problems include: _cyberslacking_, cyber-harassment and _Netiquette_. Employers have attempted to obviate these problems by developing Internet usage policies, implementing filtering software and monitoring their workers. It has also been suggested that psychological tests could assist employers in identifying potentially _problem_ employees. Although each of these methods have their uses, none of them have been successful in dealing with such problems. We argue that if we are better able to conceptualise cyberspace and the relationship workers have with this space, then we may be able to develop more effective solutions to deal with these new problems in the workplace. This paper attempts to do just that, by drawing upon object-relations theories, developed by Winnicott, Bollas and Klein. We also draw upon Serres_ work on quasi-objects. We believe that cyberspace is a unique and important tool for organisations to utilise, but if not understood well, the existing problems that have already emerged, and those yet to emerge, will continue to be ineffectively addressed.