Keywords

Internet use, sexuality, college students, cross-cultural

Abstract

The current generation of college students commonly use the Internet for sexual purposes (Boies, 2002; Boies, Cooper, & Osborne, 2004), including finding sexual partners, searching for sex-related information, and viewing sexually explicit materials (SEM) (Boies, 2002). Yet, some authors have suggested that the use of the Internet for sexual purposes might lead to psychological problems (Cooper et al., 2001). However, it is unclear if the problems that are commonly reported (i.e., Internet dependency, isolation, and psychological distress) are caused by using the Internet for sexual purposes. Hence, it is important to examine how college students use the Internet for sexual purposes cross-culturally to determine how common the practice is, how it relates to maladjustment, and to examine if any culture variables are associated with use. Undergraduate students (n = 320) from a public university in the United States and Peruvian undergraduate students (n = 135) from a public university in Lima, Peru filled out questionnaires addressing their online sexual activities, psychological adjustment, and family communication. Peruvian young adults used the Internet significantly more than U.S. young adults to view SEM, find sexual partners, and search for sex-related information. Men, regardless of nationality, used the Internet to view SEM significantly more than women. Peruvian women used the Internet significantly more to view SEM and find sexual partners than U.S. women. Social support, religiosity, and erotophilia were found to moderate the relations between nationality and OSA. Further, for Peruvians and U.S. young adults, using the Internet for OSA was associated with mild distress, but no serious psychological maladjustment. Implications for college students are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2010

Advisor

Negy, Charles

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology Clinical

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003156

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003156

Language

English

Release Date

August 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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