RESULTS OF RESEARCH OF BEHAVIOR IN THE INTERNET

general information

The survey was launched on September 7, 1999 and completed on October 7, 1999. The study was announced on the mailing lists of the “Psychological news network of the Russian Internet”, “Psl-l” (mailing list for professional psychologists). In addition, the study was given a link from the site http://icqfoto.ru. After the link was removed from icqfoto.ru, and the flow of test subjects from the mailing lists almost stopped, the survey was announced in Fidonet conferences (such as ru.computer.life; ru.virtual.life; ru.internet.news) The topics of which, in our opinion, corresponded to the topics of the survey. The total number of survey participants was 562 people (424 people according to the results of the announcement on the Internet with icqfoto.ru and through mailing lists and 138 people according to the results of the announcement in Fido).

Main results of the first stage of data processing

At the first stage, the results obtained during the survey were processed for all respondents as a whole. The socio-demographic composition of the respondents was identified, the perception of the Internet compared to the real social environment; communication of socio-demographic parameters and various indicators of communication on the Internet.

1. Socio-demographic composition of the respondents.
1.1. Floor.
About 25% of respondents are women, and about 75% are men (the sample is somewhat offset by the results of the announcement in Fido). According to the results of the announcement on the Internet, women among the respondents - 27.8%, and men - 72.2%, which corresponds to the results obtained with respect to the socio-demographic composition of Internet users Gallup Media. Among the respondents from Fido, there are more men, and a shift in the sample by gender is associated with this.

1.2. Age.
The age and gender composition of the users we surveyed was close to the results obtained by Gallup Media in a survey conducted this spring. The average age of users is 24, 6 years old, the youngest participants in the survey were 13 years old, the oldest were 60. The results are somewhat shifted compared to the results of Gallup Media — in our study, slightly more young people (under 20 years old) and slightly less elderly people ( over 45 years old) of respondents. This sampling shift may be due to the fact that most of the respondents came from the site icqfoto.ru - a dating site with a relatively young audience.

1.3. Time spent on the Internet per week.
The average time that our respondents spend on the Internet per week is 28, 9 hours, the minimum time per week is 1 hour, and the maximum time is 100 hours.

1.4. Experience of using the Internet.
The average experience of using the Internet - a little more than 2 years (25.2 months), while the participants were distributed from 0 to 120 months.

2. A comparison of how our respondents perceive the Network and the real social environment yielded the following results:

2.1. In real communication, participants with greater confidence can get emotional support (helping in difficult times - saving from sadness and loneliness) than on the Internet.
2.2. In real communication, participants can communicate with greater confidence or simply spend time.
2.3. The Internet is perceived as an environment in which you can behave, to a lesser extent, taking into account the opinions of others, than in real communication.

So, the majority of respondents consider the Internet as a medium more free than real life, and at the same time less so than real life, which provides emotional support and communication. Obviously, a certain "shift in emphasis" from the dialogue between people (communication and support) in real communication to a monologue, free from other people's opinions and assessments of self-expression on the Internet. The network is a place where you can show yourself without thinking about the consequences, but at the same time it is rather indifferent to a person. Reality compared to the Network to a greater extent forces to reckon with others, but at the same time it is more friendly, humane.

Looking a little ahead, we’ll clarify that the perception of the Web as a source of emotional support depends on the experience of using the network: the more the person has “Internet experience”, the more he perceives the network as a source of emotional support, help in difficult times. As the time spent on the network increases, people acquire good acquaintances and close friends, mastering the network in the same way as they master the traditional reality.

3. Let us proceed to the description of the interrelationships of various indicators of behavior on the Internet with various objective variables - the socio-demographic status and quantitative indicators of interaction on the Internet. It was found that:

3.1. Women versus men:
- have less experience using the Internet
- they have a great need for loosening (answer "yes" to the question "I do not like to control myself and take care of what they think of me").
- They perceive the Internet as an environment that provides more freedom and freedom (more often they answer “yes” to a question ”on the Internet, I can act as I want without worrying about what they think of me”).
Obviously, women on the Internet are more emancipated (or wanting to be one), and more competitive than the average.

3. 2. The older the respondent, the more likely it is that:
- he has less nicknames
- it communicates in fewer online communities
- he is Internet dependent
- he is active when communicating on the web
- he does not perceive the network as a source of emotional support
- he perceives the real social environment as allowing to behave without worrying about the opinions of others.

A larger number of “nicks” and network communities among younger respondents can be both a reflection of the modern age standard of online communication among 16-25 year olds, and a reflection of the desire to try themselves in different roles and different groups inherent in adolescent and young age at all times.

About the “older generation” (the concept of “older” is conditional here, these are people of 30-40 years old) - one can say that in this case Internet addiction is most likely peculiar to people who failed to fit into the social environment and acquire a sufficient number social contacts. Refusal from the Web as a means of emotional support in the case of Internet addiction is most likely due to the fact that a person has a stereotype about such a plan "I failed to get emotional support in real life, therefore, I will not be able to get it on the Web" .

At an older age, communication on the Internet, in contrast to the “new generation”, is rather an exception to the rule, a certain marginality among its age group. That is, if at a younger age, communication on the Internet is the norm, then at an older age, the exception to the rule is more likely, deviation from the average standards of behavior of 35-45 year olds. The fact that our older respondents are an exception to their age group is also confirmed by the fact that older respondents are more inclined to neglect the opinion of them of the real social environment; and the fact that they are more characteristic of Internet addiction.

3.3. The more respondents have experience using the Internet, the more likely it is that:
- this is a man
- he spends more time there a week
- he met on the network with a lot of people
- he often checks mail
- he perceives the Internet as a source of emotional support.
The link between experience and male affiliation is explained quite simply: the more a person has experience using the Internet, the more likely he is connected to the Internet among the first ones - which means, most likely, he is a graduate of a technical college, professionally connected with computers - and such people are most men.

For a long time in the network, such a person has time to acquire a circle of online dating, and begins to treat the network as a means of emotional support. Being professionally connected with computers, he continues to spend on the network a lot of time a week, along the way often checking mail.

3.4. The more time a person spends on the Internet, the more likely it is that:
- he has more nicknames, he met a lot of people on the network and more often checks mail
- he perceives the Internet as a source of communication when it’s boring and no one to talk to
- he perceives the Internet as a source of emotional support in difficult times.
(without being Internet dependent, Internet addiction is negatively related to the amount of time spent on the network.)

Regarding the relationship of time spent on the Web per week, the total length of service, the number of nicknames and the number of network communities has been said above enough. As for the connection of time spent on the network and the perception of the Web as a source of communication and emotional support, then perhaps the connection here is the following: the more time a person spends on the Internet, the greater part of his social contacts falls on network acquaintances.

3.5. The more nicks a person has, the more likely it is that:
- he spends more time on the Web, met a large number of people on the Internet and communicates in more network communities;
- he is not Internet dependent.
- he is relatively young
- he perceives the real social environment as a source of lesser emotional support, compared with people who have few or no nicknames.

The negative relationship between the number of nicknames and Internet addiction can be explained through the creative potential of the individual - it is obvious that the higher the creative potential, the more pronounced the tendency to “multiply entities without necessity”, the greater the number of people. On the other hand, the more pronounced the creative potential, the less likely it is to be Internet dependent. Here you can draw an analogy with alcoholism. There are people who find pleasure in new experiences, connoisseurs, gourmets. They collect astonishing collections of wines, and do not drink them, and taste. And there are asocial personalities for whom the percentage of alcohol in a drink is important, for which intoxication itself is the goal.

The negative link between the number of nicknames and the perception of the real environment as a source of emotional support is also in favor of this explanation. Those who have many nicks, for whom the process of playing with their own personality is important, are likely to choose such an environment not by the criterion of emotional support, but by some other criteria. That is, perhaps, the more interesting a person is “just a game,” the less important it is for him to be comforted, saved from loneliness, and helped in difficult times. Therefore, people who communicate in the network under a variety of names choose a real environment that is not a source of emotional support for them — and, accordingly, is rated as not giving emotional support.

3.6. The more people communicate in online communities (chat rooms, forums, conferences, etc.), the more likely it is that:
- he has more nicknames, more friends on the web and he often checks mail;
- this is a man
- it to a lesser degree perceives the real environment as a source of communication per se and more perceives the Internet as a source of such communication.
The more people communicate in more network communities, the higher the likelihood that he will perceive the Internet as a place where you can simply communicate at any time, and the less likely he is to perceive real life as well. That is, for an active Internet user belonging to a variety of different network groups, the “center of trip” is gradually shifting from real life to the network. Which is quite natural.

3.7. The more people met through the Internet, the more likely it is that:
- he has a greater experience of using the Internet, he spends more time there a week, he has more nicknames, he communicates in more network communities and checks mail more often;
- He rather seeks to behave with due regard for the opinions of others
- It perceives the Internet as a source of communication and emotional support, without being an Internet addict.

Concerning communication and emotional support, as well as quantitative parameters of behavior in the network, a lot has been said above. Regarding the relationship of the number of network acquaintances and the desire to focus on the opinions of others, we can say the following: the greater the network acquaintance of a person, the greater the likelihood of objectification in real life of contacts received over the network. Accordingly, the probability of projecting a model of behavior in real life on the behavior in the network is high. In other words - if a person doesn’t care what they think about him in real life, in connection with his behavior, then with the potential desire to find new acquaintances on the Internet, the person will behave on the web just like in real life. That is, the line between virtual and real communication is erased, the restrictions imposed on self-expression in real life are transferred to the Internet.
3.8. The more often a person checks mail, the more likely it is that:
- he has a long experience of using the Internet, he spends more time on the Web and communicates in more network communities
- he perceives the Internet as a source of communication and emotional support
The latter may be associated with the use of the Network as a means of acquiring social connections, both business and human, by people who spend a lot of time on the Internet. In this case, email is an indicator. Obviously, the more acquaintances a person has, the more correspondence he receives, and the more likely it is that social connections on the Internet are duplicated in real life.

Next, we figured out what factors underlie the formation of Internet addiction.
It is commonly believed that Internet addicts are people who suffer from loneliness in real life, those who seek to get the lack of emotional support and communication on the Internet. To test this assumption, questions were entered into the questionnaire, reflecting how much the subject can receive emotional support on the Internet and in real communication, the opportunity to communicate when he is bored, and emancipation, as well as questions that reflect the need for support, communication and emancipation. .

It turned out that Internet addiction negatively correlates with the extent to which a person evaluates the Internet as such an environment, which guarantees communication and support. Moreover, Internet addiction positively correlates with how highly a person evaluates his real environment as a source of support and communication: Internet addicts believe that they can receive support and communication in real life, and at the same time cannot receive them on the Web.

That is, Internet addicts perceive the real environment as providing support and communication, and the Internet as an environment that does not provide support and communication. Thus, contrary to established opinion, Internet addicts do not solve their communication problems online and do not try to escape from loneliness.