Monica T. Whitty is Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security in WMG at the University of Warwick, UK. Her research focus is on cybersecurity, cybercrime and online behaviour. She is a co-author or co-editor of several books, and has published widely on cybersecurity, mass-marketing fraud, insider threat, cyberstalking, online identity, cyber-relationships, cyberethics, online surveillance and taboos in video games.

Garry Young is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, UK. His research and teaching focus on the ethics of enacting real-life taboos within virtual environments, the phenomenology of delusions, and embodied cognition. He has published widely on ethics in video games, notions of self in cyberspace, the Capgras and Cotard delusions, and differences between procedural and declarative knowledge.

List of Tables, Figures and Boxes x

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 The 'Self' in Cyberspace 9

2.1 Defining the 'Self' 9

2.2 The self in cyberspace 13

2.3 Disembodied selves in cyberspace 13

2.4 The cyborg self 16

2.5 Goffman: Performing self online 17

2.6 Possible selves in cyberspace 18

2.7 Social identities in cyberspace 19

2.8 Visually anonymous? 20

2.9 Conclusions 21

Chapter 3 Online Relationships 23

3.1 Traditional relationships: Offline realm 23

3.2 Applying old theories to online relationships 25

3.3 New theories to explain online relating 27

3.4 A brief history of online relating 30

3.5 Contemporary online spaces 33

3.6 Interacting in various spaces 36

3.7 Future development in the field 37

3.8 Conclusions 37

Chapter 4 Online Dating 39

4.1 What is an online dating site? 39

4.2 Motivations for using an online dating site 40

4.3 Psychological characteristics of online daters 41

4.4 Comparing online dating sites with personal ads 42

4.5 Presenting oneself on an online dating site 43

4.6 Dating deception 44

4.7 A perfect match or a numbers game? 45

4.8 Stages in the online dating process 46

4.9 Conclusions 49

Chapter 5 Online Sexual Activities 51

5.1 The beginnings of Internet sex 51

5.2 The Triple A Engine 52

5.3 Cybersex: debilitating or liberating? 53

5.4 Interactive sex entertainment 54

5.5 Cybersex addiction 54

5.6 The Internet as an enabler of risky offline sexual encounters 55

5.7 The Internet and sexual health information 56

5.8 Social support and exploring sexuality 57

5.9 Teens and risky sexual online behaviour 58

5.10 Teledildonics and the future of sex in cyberspace 60

5.11 Conclusions 60

Chapter 6 Internet Infidelity 62

6.1 Defining Internet infidelity 63

6.2 Unfaithful online sexual activities 63

6.3 Virtual or real? 65

6.4 Emotional infidelity 65

6.5 Gender differences: Which is worse - sex or love? 66

6.6 Qualitative differences between online and offline affairs 68

6.7 Virtual affairs with an avatar 70

6.8 Conclusions 71

Chapter 7 Children's and Teens' Use of Digital Technologies 73

7.1 Internet usage 73

7.2 The digital divide 74

7.3 Digital technologies: Harmful or empowering for young people? 75

7.4 Illegal content and illegal activities 76

7.5 Cyberbullying and cyberharassment 77

7.6 Scams, children and teens 79

7.7 Identity development 80

7.8 Activism 81

7.9 Radicalization 82

7.10 Conclusions 84

Chapter 8 Online Education 86

8.1 Technology and learning 86

8.2 E?-learning 87

8.3 E-learning versus face?-to?-face learning 89

8.4 Synchronous and asynchronous communication within e?-learning 90

8.5 Media richness theory 93

8.6 Salmon's stage model of e-learning 95

8.7 3?-D learning environments 96

8.8 Conclusions 99

Chapter 9 Leisure and Entertainment 101

9.1 What is leisure and what motivates our pursuit of it? 101

9.2 Online family leisure 103

9.3 Older adults 103

9.4 Technoference: Encroaching on leisure time within relationships 104

9.5 Telecommunication 105

9.6 Time and functional displacement effects 106

9.7 Twitter 110

9.8 Conclusions 112

Chapter 10 Online Gaming and Gambling 114

10.1 Internet addiction 114

10.2 Internet gambling addiction 116

10.3 Internet gaming addiction 117

10.4 Aggressive video games 118

10.5 Transcending taboos: video games 123

10.6 Games for learning 124

10.7 Conclusions 126

Chapter 11 Online Deception 128

11.1 Defining deception 128

11.2 Deception in cyberspace 129

11.3 Do we lie more online? 133

11.4 Detecting deception 137

11.5 Conclusions 138

Chapter 12 Online Crimes: Scams, Fraud and Illegal Downloads 141

12.1 Phishing 142

12.2 Vishing 143

12.3 Why are people tricked by phishing? 144

12.4 Improving detection 146

12.5 Mass-marketing fraud 146

12.6 Awareness campaigns 149

12.7 Cognitive and motivational errors 150

12.8 What type of person tends to be susceptible to MMF? 151

12.9 Stages involved in the online dating romance scam 152

12.10 Illegal downloads 152

12.11 Conclusions 154

Chapter 13 Online Crimes: Cyberharassment, Hate Crimes and Cyberwarfare 156

13.1 Online harassment and stalking 156

13.2 Cyberstalking and the law 158

13.3 Psychologically profiling criminals and victims 159

13.4 Hate crimes 160

13.5 Cyberwarfare 162

13.6 Surveillance and monitoring 165

13.7 Conclusions 168

Chapter 14 Online Crimes: Child Pornography and Paedophilia 170

14.1 The internet and the increase in child pornography 171

14.2 Child pornography and the law 172

14.3 Pseudo-photographs 174

14.4 Types of child pornography offenders 176

14.5 Characteristics of child pornography offenders 179

14.6 The relationship between child pornography and hands-on offending 180

14.7 Theoretical approaches to child pornography offending 181

14.8 Conclusions 185

Chapter 15 Online Support and Health Care 187

15.1 The internet and health 187

15.2 Characteristics and motivations 188

15.3 Online health searching and cyberchondria 189

15.4 Social media, group forums and support sites 191

15.5 E?-therapy 193

15.6 Assessing the effectiveness of e-therapies 196

15.7 Immersive virtual environments as aids to treatment 197

15.8 Conclusions 198

Chapter 16 Concluding Thoughts 200

References 203

Index 240