Survey Explores Secrets of Internet Relationships and Intimacy
VICTORIA—Are you young and in a relationship?
Then chances are that you’re using the Net to communicate with your
sweetie. In fact, a study on Web use by Dr. Sylvain Boies, a psychologist
in UVic's counselling services department, shows that people are complementing
their real lives with the Internet to the point where reality and virtual
reality co-exist.
“This is the first generation of people that have actually grown up with the Internet,” says Boies. “They’re showing us how the Web is redefining community; how people relate to one another and how they connect.”
UVic first-year psychology students took part in Boies’ study by completing a 120-question online survey. It asked how respondents feel they perform socially, their bonds with family, their sexual practices, and their interest in relationships and sex on the Internet.
“What we discovered was that the majority of the respondents used the Net to stay connected with online friends and with their friends and family in the real world,” says Boies. “We also found out some interesting things about men and women who have online friends. People who had a high potential to become addicted to the Internet perceived that they had less social support from their families and friends and were dissatisfied with their ability to master their real-life environments. Not surprisingly they said they received a high level of social support from online friends.”
Preliminary results show that 84 per cent of the 760 respondents use the Internet widely and frequently to maintain relationships with their families. It also says 90 per cent of them use it to keep up with local friends and 94 per cent use it to stay in touch with non-local friends. Almost one out of three people have online friends who they have never met and with whom they spend an average of one hour a week. Sixty per cent of them communicate with their online friends once a week and 40 per cent communicate once a day.
While 65 per cent of the respondents said their general use of the Internet helped them expand their social contacts and networks, only 13.8 per cent strongly identified with the connection. As well, only 36.5 per cent agreed that their Internet usage had increased their sense of belonging to a community.
Results also show that 40 per cent of the respondents had cruised the Internet for sexual entertainment. Their online search for such information began at an early age, many before age 14. The survey also revealed that 12 per cent had used online dating services, 86 per cent had received porn from others, and 40 per cent had forwarded such material. As well, the survey showed a correlation between the number of online and off-line sexual partners.
Boies’ academic interest in the Internet began with his postgraduate studies, when he investigated how online sex can turn into an addiction.
The final results of “The First Internet Generation: An investigation into online and off-line relationships, sexuality and sense of community in young adults” will be released in July. The survey can be viewed at http://www.internetusesurvey.com
“This is the first generation of people that have actually grown up with the Internet,” says Boies. “They’re showing us how the Web is redefining community; how people relate to one another and how they connect.”
UVic first-year psychology students took part in Boies’ study by completing a 120-question online survey. It asked how respondents feel they perform socially, their bonds with family, their sexual practices, and their interest in relationships and sex on the Internet.
“What we discovered was that the majority of the respondents used the Net to stay connected with online friends and with their friends and family in the real world,” says Boies. “We also found out some interesting things about men and women who have online friends. People who had a high potential to become addicted to the Internet perceived that they had less social support from their families and friends and were dissatisfied with their ability to master their real-life environments. Not surprisingly they said they received a high level of social support from online friends.”
Preliminary results show that 84 per cent of the 760 respondents use the Internet widely and frequently to maintain relationships with their families. It also says 90 per cent of them use it to keep up with local friends and 94 per cent use it to stay in touch with non-local friends. Almost one out of three people have online friends who they have never met and with whom they spend an average of one hour a week. Sixty per cent of them communicate with their online friends once a week and 40 per cent communicate once a day.
While 65 per cent of the respondents said their general use of the Internet helped them expand their social contacts and networks, only 13.8 per cent strongly identified with the connection. As well, only 36.5 per cent agreed that their Internet usage had increased their sense of belonging to a community.
Results also show that 40 per cent of the respondents had cruised the Internet for sexual entertainment. Their online search for such information began at an early age, many before age 14. The survey also revealed that 12 per cent had used online dating services, 86 per cent had received porn from others, and 40 per cent had forwarded such material. As well, the survey showed a correlation between the number of online and off-line sexual partners.
Boies’ academic interest in the Internet began with his postgraduate studies, when he investigated how online sex can turn into an addiction.
The final results of “The First Internet Generation: An investigation into online and off-line relationships, sexuality and sense of community in young adults” will be released in July. The survey can be viewed at http://www.internetusesurvey.com
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Media contacts
Dr. Sylvain Boies (counselling services) at (250) 721 8341
In this story
Keywords: survey, explores, secrets, internet, relationships, intimacy
