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Project

Why do adolescents self-disclose online? Research on adolescents' self-disclosure and protective behaviors in social network sites.

The use of social network sites (SNS) has rapidly increased over the past decade. As these sites revolve around the disclosure of personal information, scholars have critically discussed the possible implications of online self-disclosure, especially for adolescents. However, studies on SNS data disclosure are limited in several ways that inspired the project's objectives.First, most studies take a data-driven perspective and lack a theoretical angle. Consequently, this project is theory driven. Adolescents' self-disclosures will be investigated by applying complementary theoretical models: the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Prototype Willingness Model. The Protection Motivation Theory and the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory will be applied to investigate users' awareness and experience of risks related to self-disclosure and how this motivates protective behaviors.Second, most studies adopt a cross-sectional design. Therefore, the second objective of the project is to adopt a longitudinal approach to analyze how adolescents' behaviors evolve after experiencing specific outcomes of self-disclosure.
Date:1 Oct 2016 →  30 Sep 2020
Keywords:SOCIAL NETWORK SITES, SELF-DISCLOSURE, CYBERCRIME
Disciplines:Biological and physiological psychology, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences, Communication sciences, Journalism and professional writing, Media studies, Other media and communications