Risk-Taking and The Internet: Can Internet Usage Transform into Risk Taking Behavior?

• In Event: Technology and the Situational Study of Crime

Abstract

This research aimed to reveal possible relationships between risk-taking and internet usage. In the research, the use of the internet has been examined as a risk taking behavior and it has been taken into consideration that the usage of risky internet is related to various daily risk areas. The research aims to test the hypothesis that young adults who take risky behaviors in daily life will also have risky behaviors on the internet, in addition to test the hypothesis that individuals who do not exhibit risk-taking behaviors in daily life will exhibit risky online behaviors. It is also another purpose of the research to investigate which risk-taking behavior sub field of high-risk individuals will exhibit risky behavior on the internet.
The sample of the research consist of internet user undergraduate students in Istanbul, Turkey. A sociodemographic information survey, Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale (DOSPERT) and Young Internet Addiction Test were applied online to randomly selected 350 students aged 18 years and over.
According to preliminary results of the study female participants have more online risk taking behavior than male participants however there is no significant relationship between internet addiction and offline risk taking behavior.

Authors

• Nefise Ladikli, İstanbul University Institute of Forensics Sciences

• Can Calici, Istanbul University Institute of Forensics Sciences Department of Social Sciences

• Neylan Ziyalar, Istanbul University