Adults' Perceptions of and Engagement in Cyberstalking

Submitting Student(s)

Tanna Morrison

Session Title

Other Abstracts

Faculty Mentor

Merry Sleigh, Ph.D.

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

We examined adults’ cyberstalking behaviors and added to the existing literature by also assessing their reactions to being cyberstalked. We hypothesized that adults who had previously been cyberstalked would be more concerned about being cyberstalked and more aware of their privacy settings. We also hypothesized that adults who engaged in cyberstalking would be more concerned about being cyberstalked by others and more aware of their privacy settings. Adults (n = 102) responded to an online survey to assess their social media use, social media privacy concerns, cyberstalking behaviors, and concerns about cyberstalking. We also assessed self-esteem, fear of negative evaluation, and impulsivity. Our hypotheses were not supported. Instead, adults seemed to view cyberstalking as an uncommon and positive thing, even while simultaneously expressing concerns about social media privacy. Perhaps adults assume that because they are putting a positive image of themselves on social media, cyberstalking is not problematic. In fact, social media posters may want to be admired by others. As evidence for this assumption, adults particularly liked the idea of romantic partners and friends stalking them, while people who generally feared negative evaluation did not enjoy stalking at all. There may also be a desensitization to being stalked, as increased experience with cyberstalking led to lower privacy worries. These findings provide an interesting perspective on cyberstalking. Historically, cyberstalking has been perceived as negative for the target, but our data suggest this may be an inaccurate assumption for adults engaged in today’s highly interconnected and easily accessed online world.

Honors Thesis Committee

Merry Sleigh, Ph.D., Darren Ritzer, Ph.D., Donna Nelson, Ph.D.

Course Assignment

PSYC 472H – Sleigh

Start Date

15-4-2023 12:00 PM

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Apr 15th, 12:00 PM

Adults' Perceptions of and Engagement in Cyberstalking

We examined adults’ cyberstalking behaviors and added to the existing literature by also assessing their reactions to being cyberstalked. We hypothesized that adults who had previously been cyberstalked would be more concerned about being cyberstalked and more aware of their privacy settings. We also hypothesized that adults who engaged in cyberstalking would be more concerned about being cyberstalked by others and more aware of their privacy settings. Adults (n = 102) responded to an online survey to assess their social media use, social media privacy concerns, cyberstalking behaviors, and concerns about cyberstalking. We also assessed self-esteem, fear of negative evaluation, and impulsivity. Our hypotheses were not supported. Instead, adults seemed to view cyberstalking as an uncommon and positive thing, even while simultaneously expressing concerns about social media privacy. Perhaps adults assume that because they are putting a positive image of themselves on social media, cyberstalking is not problematic. In fact, social media posters may want to be admired by others. As evidence for this assumption, adults particularly liked the idea of romantic partners and friends stalking them, while people who generally feared negative evaluation did not enjoy stalking at all. There may also be a desensitization to being stalked, as increased experience with cyberstalking led to lower privacy worries. These findings provide an interesting perspective on cyberstalking. Historically, cyberstalking has been perceived as negative for the target, but our data suggest this may be an inaccurate assumption for adults engaged in today’s highly interconnected and easily accessed online world.