The number of people who access the Internet has increased considerably over the past decade. The use of the Internet for sexual purposes (Cybersex) has begun to get the attention of clinicians as more and more families are affected. However, to date little research has been conducted to determine how much of a problem Cybersex is. The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which marriage and family therapists are seeing clients who have had Cybersex related difficulties. A questionnaire was mailed to 500 randomly selected clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Thirty four percent of the sample responded. The results indicated that most of the respondents are seeing clients with Cybersex issues and the number of clients has been increasing over the past two years. The partners and children of Cybersex users were identified most often as the ones who came for therapy. Those who came with Cybersex as a secondary problem and individuals with Cybersex problems were identified less often. Although most respondents felt prepared to diagnose and treat adults with Cybersex problems, a half felt unprepared to diagnose and treat children. Most of the respondents reported that the required courses they took in College were not helpful in preparing them to diagnose and treat Cybersex related problems. / Master of Science

Addiction and its staggering impact on today’s society is well established in literature. The existence of co-occuring addictions has been well documented by various researchers. Researchers found that the presence of co-occurring addictions in alcoholics predicted relapse and readmission to treatment for alcohol dependence, reinforcing the need to study the problems created by co-occuring addictions. In college students, there appears to be a clear tendency for addictions to occur together, with alcohol and high risk sexual behavior appearing to co-exist in this population. Today’s college students are deemed as technology savvy students; therefore, the Internet serves as a primary medium for their communication which means more time spent online. The Internet has been known for its sexual saturation, and today college students constantly use the computer, thus being exposed to this saturation. Current research found that students are online more often and are beginning to engage in online sexual behavior. Researchers found a tendency for college students to engage in cybersex related activity ranging from chatting to masturbation and even the development of offline relationships. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of cybersex and alcohol addiction in a sample of college students. In order to investigate the statement of the problem, several research questions existed for this study. This study examined prevalence rates of alcohol and cybersex addiction in this sample of college students and determined if a relationship existed between alcohol and cybersex addiction. The results of the research suggested that in this sample of college students, minimal participants met criterion for cybersex addiction and alcohol addiction. Findings show that these behaviors seemed to exist at some level in this sample of college students with 7.6% of the sample reporting that they felt that their online sexual behavior is out of control. This research demonstrated a more significant existence of alcohol abuse with 40% of the sample meeting criterion for alcohol abuse which validated that alcohol continues to be a prevalent problem with college students as previously determined by the existing research in the literature review.

Diss. Malmö : Malmö Högskola, 2006. / Härtill 7 uppsatser.

Internet is today described as a new platform for sex and sexual encounters with unlimited access to anonymous sex, cybersex and pornography due to the expansion of Internet throughout the word. Computers provide new technology and the possibility of constant access via phones, tablets and computers. Even though many people claim this is something positive it has also been discussed in terms of sexual exploitation, abuse and dependence. Risks expected to increase in line with the technological development that is taking place. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the capacity of different health facilities to cater the need of care in regard to an increased number of people, with risk to develop a behaviour that could be classified as sex addiction. The study is based on interviews with four professionals at three different health facilities in Malmö with the intention to find out how different health facilities look at the concept of sex addiction, when a behaviour transitioning to become an addiction and what treatment they recommend.According to respondents a behaviour become an addiction when the patient/client experience the consequences of the behaviour as negative or when the behaviour becomes compulsive. In addition, all stated that they never would ascribe a patient/client as a sex addict and all were careful in their use of the term sex addiction. Additionally it became clear that there are individual differences in course of action taken by the professionals within these health facilities.

Människor har genom alla tider alltid varit otrogna, även långt innan sociala medier fanns. Det finns idag en uppsjö av sociala medier och appar som människor kan använda sig av för att interagera med varandra och hitta nya bekantskaper. Sociala medier har tveklöst förändrat människors sexuella beteenden, och gjort det lättare än någonsin att skapa sexuella kontakter. Vi ställde oss då frågan om denna tillgänglighet var något som lockade även när det kommer till otrohet? Syftet med studien var således att undersöka människors erfarenheter av att vara otrogna över sociala medier. Vi ville med hjälp av intervjuer få fram hur synen på otrohet ser ut bland personer som använder sociala medier och har egen erfarenhet av otrohet på nätet, samt på vilket sätt de sociala medierna kunde användas för detta ändamål, och hur detta kan förstås ur ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. För att få svar på dessa frågor genomfördes tio kvalitativa intervjuer med personer som varit otrogna med hjälp av sociala medier någon gång under de senaste tio åren. Insamlad data har sedan analyserats med en tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att otrohet som sker över sociala medier är svårdefinierat och gör det svårare med gränsdragningarna för vad som klassas som otrohet och inte. Det visar även på att sociala medier har förändrat våra sexuella script, och att de sociala mediernas lättillgänglighet och känsla av anonymitet är en bidragande faktor till detta. Vår studie visar att det behövs mer forskning inom området för att ytterligare undersöka hur den ökande användningen av sociala medier kan komma att påverka etablerade partnerrelationer, och för att få en bredare samsyn kring vad som kan räknas som otrohetspraktiker online. / People have always been unfaithful, even long before social media existed. Today, there is a plethora of social media and apps that people can use to interact with each other and find new acquaintances. Social media has undoubtedly changed people's sexual behaviors, making it easier than ever to make sexual connections. We then asked ourselves if this availability was something that also attracted when it comes to infidelity? The aim of this study was thus to examine people’s experiences of online infidelity. We wanted to interview people who had been unfaithful with the help of social media and investigate their view on online infidelity. And also to get an idea of how the different types of social media were used for this specific purpose, and how it can be understood using a social constructivist perspective. To get the answer to these questions we held ten qualitative interviews with people who had been unfaithful with the help of social media at some point during the last decade. The collected data has been analyzed with a thematic analysis. The results show that infidelity that takes place over social media is difficult to define and makes it more difficult to draw the boundaries of what is classified as infidelity and not. It also shows that social media has changed our sexual scripts, and that social media's ease of access and sense of anonymity is a contributing factor to this. Our study shows that more research is needed in this area to further investigate how the increasing use of social media may affect established partner relationships, and to get a broader consensus on what can be counted as infidelity practices online.

The current quantitative study examined perceptions of online infidelity using ANCOVA calculations to determine if significant differences existed between variables of gender, age, orientation. The study considered the applicability of sexual strategy theory (SST) in today's culture and whether it remains relevant in current to today's relationships. SST and previous research suggested a clear trend in differences in perceptions of infidelity based on gender and age, with more mixed results in differences based on sexuality. This study expanded previous research by surveying 148 younger and older demographics, as well as men and women who are in opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. Results indicated no significant differences between emerging adults (21-29 years) and adults (30-45 years), same-sex and heterosexual couples. These findings challenge the applicability of SST to modern day relationships but need to be interpreted carefully due to several limitations of this study including unequal representation of men and same-sex couples. These findings can be considered when addressing online infidelity in individual or couple's counseling. A better understanding of the individual differences in the definition of infidelity has important positive social change implications of showing how online behaviors may affect beliefs on the difficult subject of emotional and sexual infidelity in relationships. Further studies with a larger study group as well as studies on how all media may change cultural values would be useful.

Heidelberg, Univ., Diss., 2007.

This study examined college students’ cybersex use, perceived benefits of use, time spent online, and compulsive cybersex. Participants consisted of students attending Utah State University Spring semester 2007. Data were collected via an online survey, and 262 surveys were used in the correlation and regression analyses. Results indicated that age, religion and gender are predictive of perceiving more benefits for cybersex participation. A strong positive correlation was found between perceived benefits and compulsive cybersex use. Students’ lack of social skills was predictive of more time spent online. Time spent online for cybersex was predictive of sexually compulsive behavior. There was a positive correlation between sex by phone behaviors, compulsive cybersex, time spent online, and benefits perceived among college students, and cybersex activities were associated with offline relationships.

Technology-mediated sexual interaction (TMSI) is a behavioural domain that captures the variety of ways that people engage in interpersonal exchanges of self-created, sexual material via communication technology. People report TMSI with romantic partners more than in other relationship contexts, yet there are few theoretically driven studies on people's motives for TMSI within romantic relationships. This lack of theoretical framing in the existing TMSI research makes it difficult to organize findings across studies in a coherent way, to explain particular phenomena, and to make connections between people's technology-mediated and in-person sexual experiences. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to improve knowledge about people's motives for engaging in TMSI with a committed romantic partner. To address this goal, I produced four articles which together allowed me to: (1) develop an evidence-based grounding for TMSI; (2) address limitations in current approaches to TMSI research; and (3) apply the approach-avoidance motivational framework to examine people's motives for and outcomes of engaging in TMSI with a committed romantic partner. In Article 1, I completed a systematic literature review on definitions, prevalence, and relationship context of sexting and cybersex (two of the most common TMSI activities). I found that researcher's conceptual definitions of sexting and cybersex are virtually indistinguishable and that the prevalence of sexting and cybersex was similar when researchers used comparable definitions. From these results, I conceptualized the TMSI behavioural domain. In Article 2, I described four common conceptual and measurement problems that arise when researchers focus on activities (i.e., sexting) rather than behaviours (i.e., TMSI). These problems include: (1) imprudent focus on the medium, (2) inconsistent conceptual definitions, (3) poor measurement practices, and (4) a lack of theoretical frameworks. I argue that the solutions to these problems require construct valid measures, theory-driven research, and a shift in focus away from sexting research and towards the TMSI behavioural domain. In Article 3, I used multi-grounded theory to guide qualitative analyses of 25 interviews focused on TMSI experiences and motives in current romantic partnerships. I found that participants described their TMSI motives in terms that aligned with the approach-avoidance motivational framework. In Article 4, I conducted two separate surveys to (1) develop a construct valid measure of people's approach and avoidance motives for TMSI with a current romantic partner (Article 4.1; N = 269) and (2) examine the extent to which people's approach and avoidance motives for TMSI with a romantic partner predicted well-being outcomes (Article 4.2; N = 459). I found that people's approach and avoidance motives predicted sexual, relationship, and life satisfaction through changes in dyadic sexual desire. Overall, this dissertation contributes to and extends knowledge about people's approach and avoidance TMSI motives by focusing on theoretically driven and construct valid research practices.

本文以網路性愛為題，旨在探討網愛者自我技術之過程，希望從中勾勒出網愛者如何運用科技與身體在網愛互動中獲得愉悅並產生抵抗。本研究取徑質化研究方法，透過網路參與觀察以及深度訪談蒐集資料，包括各式網愛者發表的網路文本，以及與受訪者接觸過後的訪談資料。 研究發現，第一，網路空間因為既隔離又連結的特質，讓網路世界成為網愛者展演情慾以及形塑情慾自我的管道。第二，網路性愛緊扣著網路性意識的發展，包括網路成為另一建構情慾的社會化場域，出現了新的人際連結型態—具有「陌生人」特質的親密關係，性意識領域在網路上的分殊化。網路性愛同樣也是網愛者與性意識部署爭奪詮釋權的場域，在性代理者的合作下，網愛成為反常的性論述，網愛者透過網愛獲得破除性規範的機會，也在實體世界中小心翼翼的保護在網路世界爭奪而來的自我詮釋空間。第三，網愛權力運作與現實世界的人際關係、身體資源相關連，網愛者藉此轉換為所需的幻想資本，產生愉悅與反思，有機會重新詮釋原本所在的社會位置與身體，最後的倫理主體，是屈從、規訓，也是挪用、挑戰的結果。此外，視訊的興起挑戰原有網愛所需的資本，網愛者從「寫」身體走向「看」身體。第四，肉身的影響仍在，且仍是性意識固著之處，賽伯人是透過科技賦予肉身權力，得以和壓制自我的性意識挑戰協商。在科技與肉身的合作之下，抵抗可分為三部分來談：(1)網愛個體成為積極的性主體(2)在性意識層面有機會打破二元性別的性刻板印象(3)網愛性社群的集體力量興起。