Technological Advancements and Internet Sexuality: Does Private Access to the Internet Influence Online Sexual Behavior?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether demographic characteristics and sexual behavior online and offline were associated with private, respectively, nonprivate access to the Internet in a Web sample of people who use the Internet for sexual purposes. A total of 1,913 respondents completed an online questionnaire about Internet sexuality, and 1,614 reported using the Internet for sexual purposes. The majority of these respondents reported having access to an Internet-connected computer no one else had access to (62 percent women and 70 percent men). The results showed that it is possible to differentiate between those who have access to an Internet-connected computer no one else has access to and those who have shared access to an Internetconnected computer. Not only did they differ in demographic characteristics, but also in the sexual activities they engaged in on the Internet. Different patterns were found for women and men. For example, men who had private access to Internet-connected computers were more likely than those who had shared access to seek information about sexual issues. Thus, having access to Internet computers no one else has access to may promote sexual knowledge and health for men. The results of this study along with the technological development implies that in future research, attention should be paid to where and how people access the Internet in relation to online behavior in general and online sexual behavior in particular.

Cruising y e-citas: un nuevo contexto para los encuentros sexuales entre hombres jóvenes que tienen sexo con hombres

“…Of these three factors, we highlight the latter, namely that the increasing popularity of Internet cruising for casual sex has raised the hypothesis that associates this medium with so-called high-risk behaviors 3 . MSM who cruise for partners on the Internet report having more encounters without condoms when compared to other MSM 4 .…”

Online sexual activities among university students: relationship with sexual satisfaction

“…Young people use the internet for numerous activities such as playing; studying; establishing social relationships with friends or meeting new people, as well as, searching for information (Ballester-Arnal, Giménez-García, Gil-Lario, & Castro-Calvo, 2016). This search for information may be related, among other things, to sexual activities (Daneback, Månsson, & Ross, 2012).…”

“…Through the internet, the main contents related to sexuality include online sexual activities related to recreation; entertainment; searching for information about sex; sexual problems and concerns or sexuality; buying online materials; searching for sexual partners; sexual arousal; viewing, downloading or sharing sexual material; and discussing sexual matters (Daneback et al, 2012;Shaughnessy, Byers, Clowater, & Kalinowaki, 2013). Several authors indicate that the prevalence of these activities is high (Ballester-Arnal et al, 2016;Zheng, Zhang, & Feng, 2017).…”

“…Participation in online sexual activities has been associated with a greater search for information on sexual matters using this medium (Daneback et al, 2012). In addition, sev-eral studies have stated that using the internet for sexual matters could have a positive impact on individuals (Daneback et al, 2012;Daneback, Sevcikova, Månsson, & Ross, 2013).…”

“…Participation in online sexual activities has been associated with a greater search for information on sexual matters using this medium (Daneback et al, 2012). In addition, sev-eral studies have stated that using the internet for sexual matters could have a positive impact on individuals (Daneback et al, 2012;Daneback, Sevcikova, Månsson, & Ross, 2013). In fact, using the internet to search for information about aspects, activities and sexual preferences can be beneficial for exploring sexuality as well as favoring sexual development (Shaughnessy et al, 2013).…”