The Assessment of Cyberstalking: An Expanded Examination Including Social Networking, Attachment, Jealousy, and Anger in Relation to Violence and Abuse

Because the first antistalking statute was enacted in California in 1990, stalking research has been expanded immensely, yet been largely confined to exploring traditional pursuit tactics. This study instead examined the prevalence and correlates of cyberstalking behaviors while examining the phenom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence and victims 2013-01, Vol.28 (4), p.715-730
Main Authors: Strawhun, Jenna, Adams, Natasha, Huss, Matthew T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression - psychology
Anger
Attachment
Behavior
Behavioral Sciences
California
Counseling
Courtship
Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data
Cyberbullying
Emotional abuse
Female
Hostility
Humans
Internet - statistics & numerical data
Interpersonal Relations
Jealousy
Male
Males
Marriage and Family Counselling
Motivation
Personality
Policy, Social Justice, and Human Rights
Psychology
Social and Personality Psychology
Social Networks
Social research
Social Support
Social Work
Stalking
Stalking - epidemiology
Stalking - psychology
Statutes
Studies
Threats
Violence - psychology
Violence - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Because the first antistalking statute was enacted in California in 1990, stalking research has been expanded immensely, yet been largely confined to exploring traditional pursuit tactics. This study instead examined the prevalence and correlates of cyberstalking behaviors while examining the phenomenon in a more inclusive manner than previous studies focusing on cyberstalking by including social networking avenues. In addition to a measure assessing cyberstalking-related behaviors, questionnaires assessing pathological aspects of personality, including attachment style, interpersonal jealousy, interpersonal violence, and anger were also provided to participants. Results indicate that, given preliminary evidence, cyberstalking-related behaviors are related to past measures of traditional stalking and cyberstalking, although prior attachment, jealousy, and violence issues within relationships are significant predictors of cyberstalking-related behaviors. In addition, unexpected gender differences emerged. For example, women admitted greater frequencies of cyberstalking perpetration than males, signaling that further research on frequency and motivation for cyberstalking among the sexes is necessary.
ISSN:0886-6708
1945-7073
DOI:10.1891/0886-6708.11-00145