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Online Dating Deceit: The Role of Problematic Internet Use in Catfish Relationships
Presenter(s)
Emily Connard
Abstract or Description
Recent research indicates that approximately 30% of U.S. adults have used online dating sites or applications. These online means provide an efficient way to find potential mates but come with certain risks such as encountering deceptive and/or dangerous people. Catfishing is described as presenting a false persona in order to pursue an exclusively online relationship. A catfish relationship consists of a target (the deceived) and perpetrator (the deceiver). The current study assessed problematic cognitions towards the Internet in a group of online daters (N = 680) that included catfish targets, perpetrators, and those who had never encountered catfishing. Participants completed an online survey hosted on Qualtrics.com, which included the Online Cognition Scale (OCS; Davis, Flett, & Besser, 2002). The OCS consists of four subscales, which were examined for four online dating statuses (target/perpetrator/both/neither): social comfort (e.g., use of the Internet for social/emotional loneliness, and use of the Internet to avoid rejection threats), diminished impulse control (e.g., obsessive cognitions towards the Internet and inability to reduce use even with a desire to do so), loneliness/depression (e.g., feelings of worthlessness and depressive cognitions related to the Internet), and distraction (e.g., using the Internet as an activity of avoidance). Results indicated that perpetrators maintain higher problematic Internet use on three dimensions (social comfort, diminished impulse control, and loneliness/depression) compared to targets only, both a target and perpetrator, and individuals who were never in a catfish relationship. Perpetrators also scored significantly higher in distraction compared to targets only and those never in a catfish relationship. Additionally, targets had significantly higher problematic Internet use on all four dimensions than those who have never been in a catfish relationship. Our findings show that problematic Internet use plays a significant role in catfish relationship engagement.
Mentor
Dr. Kelly Campbell
Comments
jacob jones4 years ago
Great poster Emily!
I find it intuitive that perpetrators have the most problematic use, but unexpected that the Both group does not have problematic use relative to Targets. Was this what you expected or any thoughts on why that is?
I find it intuitive that perpetrators have the most problematic use, but unexpected that the Both group does not have problematic use relative to Targets. Was this what you expected or any thoughts on why that is?
• • 1 comment
Emily Connard4 years ago
Hi! Thank you for such a thoughtful question! I, too, found these findings surprising. There might be a couple of reasons we see these results. <br />Statistically, there were much fewer participants who qualified for the Both group. This made it difficult to find a significant pattern within this group. Future research will be necessary to see if this pattern is maintained by participants who been both a perpetrator and target. <br />Theoretically, people who have higher problematic cognitions towards the Internet do not seem to hold dynamic views of Internet use. When asked how much they agree with statements such as "the Internet is more 'real' than real life," "I am at my best when I am online," and "I wish my family and friends knew how people regard me online," perpetrators and targets have higher agreement than the Both group. This might be due to a lack of flexibility in their views of the Internet; whereas, participants who have used online means to perpetrate catfishing and who have also been deceived might maintain more moldable views of Internet use.
Kelly Campbell4 years ago
Looks great, Emily!
• • 1 comment
Emily Connard4 years ago
Thank you! Your guidance has been greatly appreciated!