Exploring the Contextual Gap in Offending between Online and Offline Spaces

• In Event: Cybercrimes Against People: Predictors and Policy Implications

Abstract

Cyberspace has several structural characteristics that make it distinct from face-to-face environments, including greater anonymity, asynchronous communication, fewer non-verbal cues, and less salient social norms. Given these differences, it is important to compare the nature and scope of offending between online and offline spaces. This research explores the “contextual gap” in offending in which online forms of deviance are generally viewed as more acceptable and are more likely to be performed, than similar offline transgressions. Through two web-based surveys administered to MTurkers (N=314) and Qualtrics panelists (N=960), I measure the perceived acceptability and likelihood of engaging in trolling, flaming, digital piracy, cyberstalking, and hacking, as well as their offline counterparts. Multivariate regression analyses predict online-offline difference scores for both acceptability and likelihood indices. Across datasets, my results show that online increases in primary psychopathic traits significantly predict wider contextual gaps for both offending outcomes. That is, as primary cyber-psychopathy scores become increasingly higher than primary offline psychopathy scores, online offending becomes increasingly more acceptable and more likely than offline offending. These findings support my original “cyber-psychopathy theory” and offer an entry point for theorizing cybercrimes by thinking structurally about the criminological affordances linked to the digital architectures of cyberspace.

Author

• Andrew D. Nevin, University of Massachusetts Boston