Development and validation of a measure of online deception and intimacy ¬リニ

a r t i c l e i n f o We aimed to establish the personality and psychopathology correlates of (1) misrepresenting oneself or deceiving others online and (2) seeking meaningful companionship through online relationships. In Study 1 (N = 300; community sample), we sought to determine (1) if we could differentiate these two dimensions and (2) whether they showed distinct correlates. Study 2 served as an opportunity to refine our assessment of these dimensions and to explicate their correlates in another community sample (N = 294). In Study 2, we created two scales, one which we labeled Online Deception (e.g., self-misrepresentation to others online) and the other Online Intimacy (e.g., turning to the internet for meaningful social interaction); we collectively titled these scales the Measures of Online Deception and Intimacy (MODI). Although Online Intimacy related weakly to most personality and psy-chopathology measures, Online Deception showed notable negative associations with conscientiousness and agreeableness and positive associations with neuroticism. Furthermore, it associated positively with both exter-nalizing and internalizing symptoms. Our findings represent a first step toward understanding how individual differences in personality and psychopathology can be used to predict online deception and intimacy, and we hope that future research will explore the correlates of these dimensions further. The internet serves as a tool for facilitating positive social interaction, but also provides an avenue for victimization (Whitty & Buchanan, 2012). One particular type of victimization occurs through " online romance scams, " in which " criminals pretend to initiate a relationship through online dating sites then defraud their victims of large sums of money " (Whitty & Buchanan, 2012, p. 181). Whitty and Buchanan (2012) describe how victims of this scam are hit with a " double-wham-my " : not only do they lose money, but also a romantic relationship. As seen in the popular media, there also are cases in which individuals misrepresent themselves online in romantic relationships without any intention of conning others for financial gain. In these cases, individuals in online relationships often misrepresent their identities to others (e.g., use pictures of others to represent themselves, use a different name online). Unlike the " double-whammy " described by Whitty and Buchanan (2012), many individuals who are deceived in online relationships are not scammed for money, but still experience tremendous emotional hurt. Most research to date has focused on the " double-whammy " in which financial loss is involved; …