School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2022 May;25(5):294-300. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2021.0250. Epub 2022 May 3.
With the pervasive nature of social media and Internet use among young adults, researchers have begun to explore experiences of online disinhibition, defined as reductions in restraint in online versus face-to-face settings. In contributing to this literature, this study aimed to test whether perceptions of the Internet as a place where one has the ability to be invisible, anonymous, and exercise control over interactions promotes greater online disinhibition. A sample of Australian young adults ( = 687; 59.8 percent female; = 19.45 years, = 2.07) were included in the study. The sample was split to enable exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the measures of Internet perceptions, with results finding two subfactors; (a) perceptions of the ability to be protected, invisible, or feel safe online (labeled ), and (b) perceptions of control over interactions and self-presentation online (labeled ). Links between perceptions of protection and control, and online disinhibition were then examined, before testing social anxiety as a moderator of these links. Results demonstrated that perceptions of protection, but not control, significantly predicted online disinhibition in young adults. Furthermore, this relationship was moderated by social anxiety such that young adults high in both social anxiety and perceptions of protection reported the highest online disinhibition. This study highlights novel perceptions of online contexts, illustrates their links with online disinhibition, and demonstrates how social anxiety may interact with perceptions of protection in predicting online experiences.
随着社交媒体和互联网在年轻人中的普及，研究人员开始探索网络去抑制现象，即与面对面交流相比，在网络交流中个体自我约束减少的现象。本研究旨在为这一文献做出贡献，旨在检验人们对互联网的看法，即认为互联网是一个可以让人隐身、匿名和控制互动的地方，是否会促进更大程度的网络去抑制。研究纳入了澳大利亚的年轻成年人样本（n=687；59.8%为女性；年龄为 19.45 岁，标准差为 2.07）。对互联网感知的测量指标进行了探索性和验证性因素分析，结果发现了两个亚因素：（a）对在网上受到保护、隐身或感到安全的感知（标记为），以及（b）对网上互动和自我呈现的控制感知（标记为）。然后，研究检验了保护和控制的感知与网络去抑制之间的联系，接着检验了社交焦虑对这些联系的调节作用。结果表明，保护的感知，而不是控制的感知，显著预测了年轻人的网络去抑制。此外，这种关系受到社交焦虑的调节，即社交焦虑和保护感知都高的年轻人报告的网络去抑制程度最高。本研究强调了对网络环境的新感知，说明了它们与网络去抑制的联系，并展示了社交焦虑如何与保护感知一起预测网络体验。
