Cyberethics: Envisioning Character Education in Cyberspace

Whittier, David

doi:10.1080/0161956x.2013.775882

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To avoid idiosyncrasy and identify the most typical behaviors, we created a list of 16 immoral behaviors and 9 moral behaviors based on prior research [10,40,41,45] and general societal concerns regarding online behaviors (see Table 1). Participants were individually tested in the lab.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the vast popularity of the Internet and social media, moral observer-licensing may become increasingly common in cyberspace. Although cyberspace is characterized by virtuality and anonymity [38][39][40], it can be seen as an extension of the real world and thus encompasses patterns of behavior common in real life [41][42][43][44]. Indeed, some patterns of behavior, including moral observer-licensing, may be even more salient in cyberspace because of its virtuality and anonymity.…”

Section: The Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

Ran¹,

Hou²,

Wang³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Moral observer-licensing happens when people condone others’ morally questionable conducts due to their history of moral behaviors. We investigated in four studies (N = 808) this phenomenon in the context of cyberspace and its contributing factors and boundary conditions. Study 1 determined what participants perceived as typically moral and immoral behaviors in cyberspace. Then in Study 2, participants condemned less a story character’s online immoral behavior when they were informed of the character’s prior online moral behavior than when they were not, which indicates moral observer-licensing in cyberspace. Study 3 confirmed the presence of moral observer-licensing in cyberspace and further demonstrated that a character’s prior moral or immoral behavior online respectively reduces or intensifies the negativity of the character’s subsequent immoral behavior. Finally, Study 4 showed that participants who identified with the victim in a hypothetical scenario showed less forgiveness and more condemnation of a character’s immoral behavior than those who identified with the perpetrator or the bystander. These findings are of theoretical and practical significance for our understanding of cyber ethics.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

Ran¹,

Hou²,

Wang³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To avoid idiosyncrasy and identify the most typical behaviors, we created a list of 16 immoral behaviors, 9 moral behaviors based on prior research [10,40,41,45], and general societal concerns regarding online behaviors (see Table 1). Participants were individually tested in the lab.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the vast popularity of the Internet and social media, moral observer-licensing may become increasingly common in cyberspace. Although cyberspace is often characterized by virtuality and anonymity [38][39][40], it can be seen as an extension of the real world, and thus it encompasses patterns of behavior common in real life [41][42][43][44]. Indeed, some patterns of behavior, including moral observer-licensing, may be even more salient in cyberspace because of its virtuality and anonymity.…”

Section: The Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

Ran

Hou

Dong

et al. 2022

Behavioral Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Moral observer-licensing happens when observers condone actors’ morally questionable conduct due to the actors’ history of moral behaviors. In four studies (N = 808), we investigated this phenomenon in the context of cyberspace and its contributing factors and boundary conditions. The pilot study determined what participants perceived as typically moral and immoral behaviors in cyberspace. Then, in Study 1, participants condemned a story character’s online immoral behavior less often when they were informed of the character’s prior online moral behavior than when they were not, which indicates moral observer-licensing in cyberspace. Study 2 confirmed the presence of moral observer-licensing in cyberspace and further demonstrated that a character’s prior moral or immoral behavior online respectively reduces or intensifies the perceived negativity of the character’s subsequent immoral behavior. Finally, Study 3 showed that participants who identified with the victim in a hypothetical scenario showed less forgiveness and more condemnation of a character’s immoral behavior than those who identified with the perpetrator or the bystander. These findings are of theoretical and practical significance for our understanding of cyber ethics.

show abstract

“…One of the best solutions to address the issue of cyberethics amongst digital citizens is through the values of education (Onyancha, 2015;Sharma et al, 2015;Whittier, 2013). A number of studies have focused on education to improve behaviour on the Internet (see, for example, Dhir et al, 2016;Hur et al, 2009;Ncube & Dube, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Self-assessment Approach to Adolescents’ Cyberethics Education

2020

JITE:Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim/Purpose: Teachers usually educate students’ cyberethics using debate, case-based discussion, and role-playing instructional methods in a face-to-face setting. With the presence of teacher and peers, students may not be willing to share their true attitudes, and it may affect the effectiveness of the teaching methods. To tackle the challenge, the author applied a teaching method with a core component of a pressure-free self-assessment approach to improving adolescents’ cyberethics education. This study aimed to explore the impact of the self-assessment method on students’ self-knowledge and self-awareness of cyberethics. Background: Since people usually use their own devices in an individual environment to participate in online activities, going online can be regarded as a private act. The behaviours of youngsters in the online environment may be different from that in the classroom when they are engaged in a face-to-face discussion, especially as they are not required to use their real names to go online. Research has suggested that youngsters have a higher inclination to misbehave online. Together with the fact that they are regular Internet users, and they are overrepresented online, there is an urgent need to foster ethical online behaviour in adolescents. Methodology: A group of 28 students of age about 14 participated in this study. They were studying in secondary level 3 of a government-subsidised secondary school. All of them were required to take an information technology course in their formal curriculum. The researcher applied a framework of adolescents’ cyberethics education to nurture the students with appropriate cyberethics. It includes four dimensions, namely information security, privacy, intellectual property and netiquette. In the first phase of the teaching method, the students received a lecture on cyberethics to obtain related knowledge. In the second phase, the students were engaged in a self-assessment exercise on cyberethics. Data were collected using a knowledge test, a questionnaire, and the self-assessment exercise. Contribution: This paper highlights the challenge arisen from the face-to-face setting of commonly used instructional methods of cyberethics education, such as role-playing and debate. This study suggested a self-assessment teaching method with the rationales underpinned by theories in the area of social psychology. This paper provides detailed elaboration on the instructional method. The author also suggested a framework of adolescents’ cyberethics education. Findings: The students considered the self-assessment exercise allowed them to reflect on their attitudes on cyberethics. It thereby enhanced their self-knowledge on cyberethics. They also expressed that the method was more effective for self-reflection compared with commonly used instructional methods. Moreover, importantly, they stated that they would be more aware of cyberethics in their future online activities. Recommendations for Practitioners: Teachers are advised to use a self-assessment exercise together with commonly used instructional methods, such as case-based discussion, debate, and role-playing, in their future practices of cyberethics education. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could consider youngsters’ cognitive and psychological development, and social and emotional factors to improve adolescents’ cyberethics education. Impact on Society: It is anticipated that youngsters would have a higher level of awareness to uphold information security, protect privacy, respect intellectual property and maintain appropriate netiquette. They could then demonstrate more appropriate behaviours when they go online after receiving cyberethics education using the approach elaborated in this paper. Future Research: It is valuable to explore how different factors in cognitive, psychological, social, and emotional domains affect youngsters’ online behaviours. Future research may also design effective instructional methods to improve adolescents’ cyberethics education.

show abstract

Cyberethics: Envisioning Character Education in Cyberspace

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

Moral Observer-Licensing in Cyberspace

A Self-assessment Approach to Adolescents’ Cyberethics Education

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About