CYBERSEX: SOCIAL OPPORTUNITY OR SOCIAL ISOLATION

1
CYBERSEX SOCIAL OPPORTUNITY OR SOCIAL
ISOLATION?

• Marsia Vletsa - John Papadimitriou
• UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

2
INTRODUCTION

• Online Sexual Activities the next sexual
  revolution. (Cooper Griffin-Shelley, 2002)
• Cybersex real time event ? subcategory of OSA
• When two or more people are engaging in
  simulated sex talk while online for the purposes
  of sexual pleasure and may or may not include
  masturbation by one or more participants
• (Cooper Griffin-Shelley, 2000)
• The user becomes the consumer and the producer at
  once contributes significantly to the extension
  of pornography distribution through the internet.

3
THE RESEARCH

• Life on the screen can become a substitute for
  real life activities
• Main target examine the association between
  cybersex activity and social life
• (as expressed through meeting or discussing with
  new people in real life or on the net,
  experimenting with new sexual and social
  experiences and through greater receptivity in
  meeting new people.)

4
HYPOTHESIS

• Social isolation or socialization resulting from
  cybersex activities can be directly or indirectly
  linked to social variables such as
• social oppression
• (stressful situations may lead individuals to
  use online sex as a temporary escape,
  distraction, or means of dealing with
  uncomfortable feelings)
• social skills
• (internet in some cases has the tendency to
  reinforce pre-existing attitudes such as high or
  low social skills, shyness and introversion or
  high socialization skills. )
• emotional and psychological state directly
  related to sexual satisfaction and sexual
  confidence in real life. (sexual satisfaction and
  sexual confidence are considered as socializing
  factors)

5
HYPOTHESIS

• UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES
• CAN CYBERSEX USE BECOME
• A SOCIALIZING OR ISOLATION FACTOR ?

6
RESEARCH METHOD

• PARTICIPANTS
• 1.018 completed responses
• men women
• heterosexuals, homosexuals bisexuals
• internet users
• 27 - 37 years old,
• from urban and rural areas of Greece

7
RESEARCH METHOD

• PROCEDURE
• Online questionnaire on a Facebook group
• for two weeks (2/9- 16/9 2008)
• Facebook is a social utility that connects you
  with the people around you
• Facebook users have a predisposition to online
  socialization and high online skills (down/up
  loading photos and videos, sending e-mails, using
  chats)

8
RESEARCH METHOD

• MEASURES
• A 35-item self-report online questionnaire,
  designed to explore the motivations and
  implications of cybersex users.
• 6 sections
• Sociodemographics
• (sex, age, occupational status, sexual
  orientation, relationship status)
• Cybersex use
• (time spent, period of engagement and cybersex
  activities, etc.)
• Cybersex addiction
• Offline online sexual experiences
• (such as sexual satisfaction and confidence in
  real life compared to the net, etc.)
• General offline and online social skills
• (feelings of uneasy conscience, emotional
  statement)
• Impact on social and sexual life.

9
RESEARCH METHOD

• Through the combination of answers we generated
  12 new indicators
• 1. cybersex use
• (hours and period of engagement )
• 2. cybersex addiction
• (I promised myself stop having cybersex, I
  think about cybersex a lot)
• 3. online sexual activity use
• (maintain erotic web page, visit erotic sites)
• 4. sex compulsiveness
• (fetish, group sex, "I think about sex all the
  time")
• 5. social oppression
• (sexual orientation, working hours, I see
  cybersex as a temporary escape)
• 6. sexual dissatisfaction in real life
• ("I am depressed and worried about the sexual
  aspects of my life")

10
RESEARCH METHOD

• 7. social skills in real life
• (Its easy for me to pick up", "There are plenty
  of people I can rely on when I have problems")
• 8. online social skills
• ("I'm shy and I can find partners more easily on
  the Internet", "I get to know a lot of people in
  sexual related chats")
• 9. sexual confidence
• ("I can always have whoever I want", "I believe
  I am a better sexual partner than others)
• 10. online sexual satisfaction
• (cybersex is a good way to share my fantasies,
  "I use the Internet to experiment with different
  aspects of my sexuality)
• 11. impact on socialization
• ("Through cybersex I met face to face a lot of
  people that i still keep in touch)
• 12. impact on isolation.
• ("Since I started having cybersex I have retired
  into myself, "Since I engaged in cybersex I
  dont have time for my friends)

11
Sample (n1018)
12
Sample (n1018)
13
Sample (n1018)
14
Cybersex users (n267)
15
Cybersex users (n267)
16
Cybersex users (n267)
17
RESULTS Cybersex users characteristics (n267)
18
RESULTS Total score on impact on isolation
impact on socialization
19
RESULTS

• The last two indicators
• (impact on socialization impact on
  isolation)
• were used as filters for the remaining indicators
  in
• order to answer our hypothesis question.

20
Characteristics of socialized users gender?
RECREATIONAL USERS
21
Characteristics of isolated users
SEXUAL COMPULSIVES AT RISK USERS
22
DISCUSSION- Comparative table
23
DISCUSSION

• Under this circumstances
• cybersex can be a factor for isolation
• Heavy cybersex use Cybersex addiction Low
  social skills Social oppression Social
  compulsiveness isolation
• cybersex is an effective way for social isolated
  users to satisfy their sexual needs. For that
  reason they become net-victims.

24

• Thank you for your attention !