Close Encounters of the Adolescent Kind. A mixed methods study of the adolescent approach to ...

129 Pages·2015·0.67 MB·English

Close Encounters of the Adolescent Kind.
A mixed methods study of the adolescent approach to online risks.

Research Master’s program Communication Science
Specialization Youth & Media
Master Thesis
Eva Hollander
5800544
January 6, 2014
Supervisor: Dr. R. van Bronswijk
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ADOLESCENT KIND
Abstract
Research on risk behavior online has mainly focused on quantitative data about the general
behavior of adolescents online. In addition to the knowledge on general online behavior of
adolescents, this study focuses on the attitudes and knowledge of online risk behavior from the
perspective of the adolescent.This research was conducted with a mixed methods approach.
Study 1 was conducted with focus groups among 26 adolescents in the fourth grade (15-17
years old). In these focus groups different topics concerning online behavior (privacy online,
risks online and influences on risk behavior) were discussed. Overall a paradox was found
between the knowledge and behavior of the participants. Most of the adolescents were positive
of their own online behavior, but several mentioned behavior that is perceived as risky, such as
contacting strangers online.
Study 2 was conducted with a content analysis of Facebook profiles. Results indicate a
support of the paradox that was found in the focus groups. The information provided on a profile
differs between the privacy levels. This is expected since private profiles entail little information
about the profile owner. But, several results indicate that the risky behavior online is not in the
amount of general information given within a profile, but in the self- portrayal in pictures.
Keywords: Facebook, online risks, behavior, attitudes, knowledge, adolescence, privacy.
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Close Encounters of the Adolescent Kind.
Everyday threats are expressed through social media, children are being bullied online,
pedophiles search for victims on the Internet and the reach of sexual predators has extended with
the emergence of 'sexting' (Christofides, Muise & Desmarais, 2012). The act of sexting has been
defined as ‘the practice of sending sexually explicit images or text through mobile phones or via
internet applications’ (Hasinoff, 2013, p.449). There are a lot of ways in which criminals can take
advantage of information they find online, e.g. conversations and pictures can be spread to any
number of individuals or personal information may be stolen for identity fraud (Whitty &
Joinson, 2008; Saeri, Ogilvie, La Macchia, Smith & Louis, 2014). These are consequences of the
violation of privacy, which is defined by Yen & Tu (2011) as 'the ability to maintain personal
information and social acts from the public' (p.236).
According to the study of Newcom (Boekee, Engels & Van der Veer, 2014) , 4 out of 10
Dutch youngsters (participants of this particular study are 15-19 years old) are concerned about
privacy issues online and the control over personal information. By default, the privacy setting of
personal information on a Facebook profile is 'friends only', which means that the information is
only available to the individuals online friends group (in this study referred to as the ' private'
setting). But, an individual can also choose to share the information of their profile with a wider
audience, such as 'friends of friends' or 'public' which makes the profile accessible to anyone.
In addition, many studies (Baumgartner, Valkenburg & Peter, 2010; Christofides et al., 2012;
Delevi & Weisskirch, 2013; Doornwaard, Moreno, Van den Eijnden, Vanwesenbeeck & Ter
Bogt, 2014) have looked at the occurrence rate of these risks among various age groups. Even
though there is a lot of statistical data available about the use of these platforms among teenagers
and adolescence, qualitative research has remained scarce. This thesis will show that, in addition
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to this statistical data, it is important to talk to young people about their attitudes towards and
knowledge of online risks.
This study revolves around adolescents, which is a term for young people between 10- 22
years old. This study is conducted on high schools, resulting in an age group of 14-19 years old.
During adolescence the development from child to adult is at full speed and the development
focuses on three levels; physical, cognitive, and social- emotional development. As will be
discussed in the next chapter, these developmental stages are not always on the same level. This
is why adolescence is termed as period of risks and opportunities (Nelis & Van Sark, 2014).
The study has been inspired by the interests and spearpoints of the Kennemerland police
force, which is responsible for several communities (small villages to cities). Its communication
department is interested in the behavior of young people online, as part of its duties to prevent
crime and inform the public. The emergence of social media requires a completely new focus,
especially with social environments of high schools where social networks of adolescents are
established. Both focus groups and content analysis are employed in this study, which allows for
a comparison between perceptions and knowledge about online risks, and actual online behavior.
This mixed methods approach will be the foundation of the answer to the following research
questions: What is the attitude towards and knowledge of online risk behavior among
adolescents? How do they put this knowledge in practice? Do we need to worry?
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Theoretical framework
In the Netherlands almost all (930.0001) youngsters (15-19 yrs old) use Facebook, with
745.000 of them using this social network site (SNS) on a daily basis (Boekee et al., 2014).
Adolescents represent the group that uses social networking sites more frequently than other ages
(Christofides, Muise & Desmarais, 2011). This online environment challenges them to
experiment with identity and skill development through various forms of online activities such as
networking, chatting in web communities and online gaming. Even though the Internet provides
interesting opportunities for youngsters to entertain, educate and develop themselves, it also
provides potential risks, which include cyber bullying and sexual harassment (Keipi & Oksanen,
2014). Social network sites are based on profiles, which Danah boyd (2007) describes as 'a form
of individual homepage, which offers a description of each member' (p. 123). The concept of
privacy has been a contentious issue ever since the Internet expanded. Since the information on
the Internet can be kept forever, searching for information has become very easy and can be
assessed without the person of interest knowing (Saeri et al., 2014). According to Faisal and
Alsumait (2011), gender is one of the most important factors that affect online privacy concerns.
In addition, Saeri et al (2014) present results indicating that women have higher privacy
protection behavior than men. This results in a first hypothesis that states:
H1: Gender has an influence on privacy protection behavior (woman have greater privacy
protection settings (= more private) than men.
This study contributes to the clarification of this concern by applying a mixed methods analysis
of the attitudes and behavior towards online risks among Dutch adolescents. The theoretical
background will clarify some of the more frequently identified online risks in general, as well as
1 According to Newcom (Boekee et al., 2014), there are 992.851 individuals from the age 15-19 living in the
Netherlands.
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the development of adolescents, the role of risks and trust, awareness in adolescence and
behavior online of this particular age group.
Who are adolescents?
Adolescence is a period of fast change, which is 'dramatically crystallized in the flood of
hormonal activity and rapid physiological development that constitutes puberty’ (Crosnoe &
Johnson, 2011; p. 440). Developments of both body and mind call for a quest for personality.
During this period individuals are perceived as neither child nor adult. In addition, the social
orientation shifts from parents to peers which is expressed by spending more time with friends
than with family members (Baumgartner et al., 2010, Jordán-Conde, Mennecke & Townsend,
2013). Individuals start to experiment with their identity before they commit to adulthood. This
struggle is countered by comparing their identity to others who act as a 'mirror to the
self' (Jordán-Conde et al., 2013; p. 358). The Internet functions as a major source of information
for adolescents as well as a communication spot where adolescents spend time exchanging
feelings and thoughts (Jordán- Conde et al., 2013). Jordán- Conde et al. (2013) describe the
concept of 'disclosiveness' as the 'tendency to share intimate information that is highly personal
with strangers' (p. 359). The sharing of intimate information is driven by the feeling of 'being
there' which interacts with the personality crisis of adolescents and the experimentation of
identities and intimacy (Jordán-Conde et al., 2013). Sung and Mayer (2012) describe the sense of
presence in an online learning environment as: 'whether participants feel they are interacting with
real people when they are online’ (p. 1738). According to their theory, this feeling of 'being there'
is related to five facets; social respect, social sharing, being open minded, social identity, and
intimacy. This is a key aspect to understanding online communication and refers to the degree to
which a person in perceived as a 'real person' in online communication. The application of this
theory is slightly different in the online risk debate that is outlined in this study. However, three
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of the facets clearly apply here; social sharing, social identity and intimacy. First of all, the
sharing of personal information builds social relationship. Sharing information and discovering
common grounds elevates the feeling of being comfortable with another person. In addition, the
social identity as it is represented by a person’s online profile needs to be recognized and
accepted by the social environment. This enhances the level of intimacy between two individuals
and encourages to share personal stories and experiences (Sung & Mayer, 2012). Yen and Tu
(2011) add the dimension of privacy as an important aspect of social presence. This is defined as
'the sense of being secluded from the view of others' (p.222). This creates an environment in
which there is less concern for sharing of information.
The Internet can be seen a platform where an online identity can be constructed and has
changed the traditional process of identity construction (Zhao, Grasmuck & Martin, 2008). It
provides an environment detached from the body with abilities to interact with one another
without revealing any physical characteristics. This allows for a more free and creative
environment to engage in identity exploration. A SNS like Facebook can function as a platform
for exploring identities. The online personality can then act as an extension of the real life self
that functions as a way to explore identities (Jordán-Conde et al., 2013; Lee, 2014).
Anonymity can be maintained online through withholding personal information. According
to Zhao et al. (2008), the combination between the disembodiment and anonymity provides a
technical environment in which a new process of identity formation can emerge. The process of
constructing a Facebook profile allows the profile owners to present a selected self- image and
therefore engage in 'impression management’. For the profile owner this provides the
opportunity to create a desirable, or even misleading, impression. For the viewer of this profile,
this provides the challenge of determining which information gives a true reflection of the offline
personality of the individual behind the profile (Hall, Pennington & Lueders, 2013). Social
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network sites therefore provide an ideal platform of impression management (Krämer & Winter,
2008). Faisal and Alsumait (2011) agree with this statement and mention that one major aspect of
discovering identity online is the portrayal of oneself online by the amount of information the
participants disclose. These profile items are considered sensitive, because they reveal the true
identity of the individual. Specifically, the public statement of the relationship status can have
interpersonal and social implications, according to Fox, Warber and Makstaller (2013). The
findings of their study reveal that Facebook can act as a way to reduce uncertainty in the first
stages of a relationship. Communicating our relationship status is not a new phenomenon, think
of wearing a wedding ring, but on SNS it is easier and faster to provide information about
romantic relationships to a larger network (Fox, Warber & Makstaller, 2013).
The role of risk and trust
With these developments, adolescents learn to better understand the perspective of others
and shift between the perspective of self and others, which is a characteristic that is associated
with prosocial behavior. A key element of this behavior is trust (Van den Bos, Westenberg, Van
Dijk & Crone, 2010). Trust increases from childhood to adulthood and research indicates that
trust is higher in adulthood than in childhood and adolescence (Sutter & Kocher, 2007).
Saeri et al. (2014) discuss perceived trust in combination with perceived risk as two
important affective variables on online risk behavior. The perception of risk is an important
factor in social judgment and alerts us to potential negative consequences of our actions. The
fading lines between online and offline environments, and the illusion of intimacy on the
Internet, can reduce the role of risk perceptions online (Saeri et al. 2014). According to
Saeri et al. (2014), trust is based on a positive relation of being vulnerable to others. A certain
way to create mutual trust is through self-disclosure, or the sharing of personal and private
information. By disclosing personal information an individual is perceived as more trustworthy.
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However, if a profile is set to 'friends of friends', the exhibition of personal information can
extend to a much wider audience than realized.
The study by Saeri et al. (2014) has found that participants who perceive greater risks and
have lower trust in others would be more motivated to protect their online privacy. However, it
remains questionable whether motivation alone is enough, as there was no association found
between the actual behavior and perceived risk. This may possibly be explained by the impact of
social comparison, where peer comparison results in information that influences risk perceptions
(Saeri et al., 2014). The social comparison theory of Leon Festinger (1954) explains that
individuals compare themselves with others when they are confronted with information about
other individuals. People can either feel negative or positive about themselves as a result of
comparison with others, but the main goal for this behavior is to enhance one’s self- esteem (Lee,
2014). Perceived trust was mostly associated to the attitudes towards online privacy protection.
Those who were more positive towards protecting their privacy online had lower trust in other
Facebook-users. In addition, gender differences were found in perceived trust and the correlated
online behavior. Woman were less trusting of others online then men, and displayed more
privacy protection behavior over their personal information. And a predicting effect of age was
found in this study, where older participants (adults) had more intentions to protect their privacy
online than younger participants (adolescents) (Saeri et al., 2014).
Related to these concepts of trust and risks is the notion of perceived invulnerability,
which is assumed to rise due to the cognitive development during adolescence. Since the
adolescents’ brain is not fully developed yet, they are assumed to be particularly susceptible to
the believe that one is unique and invulnerable (Baumgartner et al., 2010). According to
Baumgartner et al. (2010), the perceived invulnerability is closely related to low perceptions of
risk. However, even if adolescents have high risk perceptions they may still feel personally
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invulnerable. This might be explained by the neurological stage of adolescence where the
prefrontal cortex is not fully developed yet (Nelis & Van Sark, 2014). This part of the brain is
responsible for abilities like controlling impulses, judgment, solving problems and social
behavior. As a result, adolescents often feel quite independent and mature, but behave otherwise
and have not developed complex skills such as long- term thinking. In addition to the cognitive
development, the physical and social- emotional stage is often on a different level. While the
sexual maturation is completed, the social- emotional and cognitive development is still
undergoing major changes. The production of hormones is at full speed and the need for kicks
resulting in an adrenaline explosion is high (Nelis & Van Sark, 2014). The cognitive dissonance
theory of Festinger (1962) is also interesting in this context. Leon Festinger (1962) suggests that
we possess an inner drive to keep our attitudes and beliefs in balance and avoid disturbances of
this equilibrium (which he calls cognitive dissonance). We strive for consistency within our
attitudes and opinions. This consistency also applies to what a person believes and what he does.
What stands out then, are behaviors that are opposed to this consistency. The inner drive to
maintain the balance can be strong, resulting in irrational behavior in order to maintain the
cognitive balance. Resulting in attempts to rationalize the inconsistent behavior. If these attempts
fail and the presence of inconsistencies is not rationalized, psychological discomfort appears
(Festinger, 1962). 

Even though the adolescents in the study by Baumgartner et al. (2010) have high
perceptions of risks, they sometimes still feel invulnerable. This might be explained by the
cognitive dissonance that arises when one acknowledges the risks, but still engages in risky
behavior online. They would then rationalize the personal circumstances that apply to them,
which make them believe they are untouchable. These adolescents would then deny potentially
negative consequences and focus on the benefits in order to justify their behavior.
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