Adolescents' sexual self-disclosure on the internet: deindividuation and impression management.
This study examined the effect of anonymity on adolescents' sexual self-disclosure on the Internet and the impact of topic intimacy on their reply intent for sexual disclosure by conducting a survey with 1,347 adolescents. It was found that male participants were more likely than females to engage in sexual self-disclosure and to correspondingly respond to cyber partners' sexual disclosure. Results showed that the greater the anonymity, the greater the intent for sexual self-disclosure. Participants exhibited greater reply intent when cyber partners self-disclosed sexual topics with greater intimacy, and the effect of topic intimacy was more pronounced in male participants. The findings suggest that male adolescents tend to adopt a reciprocal strategy in responding to partners' sexual disclosure on the Internet, whereas females tend to employ a conservative strategy. It was concluded that male and female adolescents revealed differential self-presentation and impression management for their sexual self-disclosing and responding on the Internet.
Chiou
Wen-Bin
WB
General Education Center, National Kaohsiung Hospitality College, No. 1, Sung-Ho Rd., Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan, ROC. seanchiou@mail.nkhc.edu.tw
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003219:Confidentiality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013624:Taiwan