Examination of the determinants of anonymous behavior of adolescents in the internet environment
The modern child has indeed become “different” in many ways. According to the results of a study on motivation to use the Internet, according to users, the Internet now helps to meet most of their needs – in communication, entertainment, learning new things. For researchers, this allows us to look at the opportunities offered by the Internet as new cultural tools that mediate the activities of modern man and can take part in the formation of his higher mental functions. The Internet itself as a whole can be thought of as a cultural phenomenon with semiotic and psychological features”.
Modern realities, the Internet environment, where a growing child not only spends his free time, but also realizes himself, develops himself, asserts himself, “I”, I discover new opportunities for self-development. Considering the psychology of growth, it is during adolescence that this area is separated from the others and is the most actively used and important area of self-actualization.
The study of the psychological determinants of a teenager’s self-actualization in the Internet environment led us to examine the manifestation of the Internet’s most striking feature – anonymity. In the context of our study, anonymity is understood as a young person’s self-actualization and positioning on the internet using such a self-presentation, which gives him the opportunity to create an online identity different from the real one. When a teenager’s “physical and social face” is disguised “under the guise of anonymity,” he allows communication to be used on behalf of someone else.
The main aim of the research was to determine how the self-actualization of a teenager using anonymous online behavior is linked to the system of trust relationships (trust in self and others). Trust is seen by us as a psychological determinant that determines this process. It is important to note that, according to the concept of confidence, a stable intrapersonal neoplasm is formed during adolescence – self-confidence. The ratio of the measure of confidence in self and others is integrated into the model of trust relationships, which determines the further maturation of a young person. At the same time, constructive maturation is possible under the condition of an optimal ratio of confidence in others and self-confidence measure. If there is no such ratio, the resolution of certain developmental tasks will not occur at all.
As you know, adolescence is associated with a deep restructuring of the field of motivational needs of the individual, the desire to evaluate his growing abilities. Therefore, it becomes especially important for a teenager to be evaluated by people important to him, above all by his peers. From our point of view, the special importance of evaluating others and the peculiarities of the formation of internal formation – self-confidence are due to the peculiarities of the use of anonymous behavior in self-actualization in the Internet environment. It is a system of relationships based on trust. Therefore, we believed that the use of anonymity is more typical for adolescents whose trust relationship system is in a state of “imbalance” when the measure of self-confidence is excessively exaggerated. or has a low degree of severity and does not allow the young person to reach the desired level of self-actualization. Therefore, anonymity as a particular opportunity and feature of the Internet is used by a young person to achieve the desired (necessary) level of adaptation to the world in self-realization on the Internet. Therefore, the hypothesis of the study is that anonymous behavior in the Internet environment is typical for adolescents with an imbalance in the system of trust relationships.
The purpose of the study was older adolescents, middle school students. In the first phase of the study, we examined the degree of effectiveness in Internet use by adolescents to determine which questionnaire was developed. The questions in the questionnaire made it possible to reveal the degree of internet participation, the total time spent on the internet, the most frequently used resources and their importance. According to the activities of the participants, three groups can be distinguished: moderately active, spending up to 1.5 hours a day on the Internet; active, spending 1.5 to 3 hours on waxing and quite active more than 3 hours a day. Regardless of the time spent on the Internet, communication with friends (social networks), cognitive needs (participation in groups), entertainment (games, music, video), the possibility of self-presentation (photo, wall design, situations, etc.), i.e. activity in the network includes not only reproduction, but also creative activity aimed at the self-development of a teenager. for example, it shows that online communities are not a communication tool that only allows one person to communicate. receives necessary information, searches for new connections and friendships, but also acts as a platform for self-expression. In general, this confirms
The study of anonymity in self-actualization in the network was carried out using the author’s questionnaire. The questions of the survey allowed to reveal the attitude towards anonymity, possible reasons for the use of anonymity, the possibility of using anonymity in one’s own behavior on the Internet. The reasons for using anonymity are distributed as follows according to their importance for adolescents. In the first place is “The desire to try new activities on the Internet, to expand the experience” (78.5%), in the second place – “Uncertainty in oneself and abilities, difficulties in self-expression” (73%), in the third place “The desire to avoid the negative consequences of their online activities” (% 41,7). Therefore, most adolescents believe that anonymous behavior is used to try new activities and expand their experiences.
Regarding anonymity as a form of behavior on the Internet, three groups of adolescents were identified. For the first group (45%), anonymity is a “normative” and socially acceptable behavior. This group of participants believes that using anonymous behavior is not harmful. The second group of respondents (55%) see anonymity as a more negative feature. 39.3% of the entire sample, ie. About half of teens have used anonymous online behavior at least once. 9.8% of the sample mentioned the frequent use of anonymity. This shows that most adolescents think it is possible to use anonymity as a feature, but the frequent use of anonymity is not their feature and only some of them. According to our data, the use of anonymity is not related to the amount of time spent online. Consistent with the research hypothesis, we believe that the use of anonymity is typical for adolescents whose self-actualization does not fit the desired level and results from an imbalance in the trust relationship system. Therefore, the next stage of the study was the study of adolescents’ system of trusting relationships (trust in oneself and others). The research was conducted using the Self Confidence Questionnaire. Trust in others was examined using the “Interpersonal Trust Scale”. From our point of view, trust in others can be a model of trust in the world (society). Therefore, in this context, trust in the world is addressed by us through the study of trust in others.
Data analysis revealed the existence of a significant positive correlation between the indicators examined. As a result, the measure of self-confidence and the world in this example has a distinctly positive relationship. We associate this trend with the formation of self-confidence in adolescence and the formation of self-confidence on the basis of basic trust in the world.
In the next phase of the study, we compared the results of the survey and the methods of working trust. Consistent with the research hypothesis, we believed that participants who frequently used anonymity for self-actualization would have either an extremely high or a low measure of self-confidence. The measure of trust in others will be lower than that of adolescents who do not use anonymous behavior. As a result, it was found that adolescents who use anonymity generally have a lower measure of self-confidence than their peers who do not use such behavior on the Internet. Our hypothesis about trust in others was not confirmed. The extent of trust in others in adolescents who engage in anonymous behavior is not significantly different from adolescents who do not use such behavior. This fact seems to be due to the fact that in adolescence, a teenager’s system of relations with the world and with himself is contradictory and unstable. The teenager is more oriented towards the world, for him the opinion of his peers is important (trust in others as part of the world), support “from the world”, what the teenager expects, acts anonymously in the network. The “lack” of self-confidence, that is. A degree of self-confidence lower than necessary for a teenager’s active subjective position in self-actualization on the Internet does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world in self-actualization. Therefore, he uses anonymity as an opportunity to get the support he needs from “the world”, which will allow him to expand his ideas about his abilities and achieve a harmonious rate of trust in himself and the world. for him, the opinion of peers is important (trust others as part of the world), support “from the world”, what the teenager expects, acts anonymously in the network. The “lack” of self-confidence, that is. A degree of self-confidence lower than necessary for a teenager’s active subjective position in self-actualization on the Internet does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world in self-actualization. Therefore, he uses anonymity as an opportunity to get the support he needs from “the world”, which will allow him to expand his ideas about his abilities and achieve a harmonious rate of trust in himself and the world. for him, the opinion of peers is important (trust others as part of the world), support “from the world”, what the teenager expects, acts anonymously in the network. The “lack” of self-confidence, that is. A degree of self-confidence lower than necessary for a teenager’s active subjective position in self-actualization on the Internet does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world in self-actualization. Therefore, he uses anonymity as an opportunity to get the support he needs from “the world”, which will allow him to expand his ideas about his abilities and achieve a harmonious rate of trust in himself and the world. A degree of self-confidence lower than necessary for a teenager’s active subjective position in self-actualization on the Internet does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world in self-actualization. Therefore, he uses anonymity as an opportunity to get the support he needs from “the world”, which will allow him to expand his ideas about his abilities and achieve a harmonious rate of trust in himself and the world. A degree of self-confidence lower than necessary for a teenager’s active subjective position in self-actualization on the Internet does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world in self-actualization. Therefore, he uses anonymity as an opportunity to get the support he needs from “the world”, which will allow him to expand his ideas about his abilities and achieve a harmonious rate of trust in himself and the world.
According to the concept of trust, trust in the world provides an opportunity for one to build self-confidence. Therefore, it can be assumed that the severity of trust in the world does not show significant differences between these groups. Within the framework of our study, it becomes important to recognize that average-high indicators of trust in others are often characteristic of adolescents, regardless of the characteristics of their behavior (including the Internet environment). This is due to the resulting imbalance in the system of trust relationships, which leads to a decrease in the measure of self-confidence, while trust in the world remains within the norm (at the average statistical level for a given age).
In the next stage of the study, we compared the responses of the respondents to the indicators “Opinion on the result of the activities performed while using anonymity” and “Opinion on the reasons for using privacy” with the self-confidence indicators in the user and user groups. not using anonymous behavior. The results of such a comparison may indicate whether ideas about the reasons for using anonymity are linked to adolescents’ ideas about the outcome of the activities, and whether there are differences in the adolescent groups studied based on the measure of self-confidence. Analysis of the results of the study showed that the differences between groups of participants who used and did not use anonymity and with different levels of self-confidence were significant only for one indicator – “Opinion on improving performance when using anonymity”. This allows us to say that adolescents who use anonymity for self-actualization and have low self-confidence are characterized by the idea that anonymous behaviors improve performance. That is, using anonymous behavior, adolescents try to achieve a different result of activity, a higher level. This anonymous behavior improves performance. That is, using anonymous behavior, adolescents try to achieve a different result of activity, a higher level. This anonymous behavior improves performance. That is, using anonymous behavior, adolescents try to achieve a different result of activity, a higher level.
Thus, the hypothesis of our study was partially confirmed. Based on the data obtained, we can say that the measure of self-confidence in adolescents who frequently use anonymous behavior for self-actualization in the internet environment is less pronounced than in adolescents who do not use anonymity. Adolescents who engage in anonymous behavior online are more likely to have moderate to low self-esteem indicators. The extent of trust in others in these groups does not differ significantly. We attribute this to the characteristics of a growing teenager, when he is more turned to the world, the opinion of his peers, support from the “world” is important to him, this is what a teenager expects to receive, he acts anonymously. network. The “lack” of self-confidence, that is. A lower measure of self-confidence does not allow a teenager to achieve the “desired” level of interaction with the world, as it is necessary for the active subjective position of self-actualization in the Internet environment. Therefore, the anonymity of adolescent self-actualization in the Internet environment acts as a factor in expanding their experience and understanding of their abilities, creates a basis for increasing a teenager’s self-confidence and subjective activity, thereby allowing you to reach out. a harmonious ratio of the measure of confidence in yourself and the world, and the desired level of cultivation, self in self-actualization.
These results can be considered a general trend that requires further study. However, for our study, this trend serves and is decisive as evidence that the use of anonymous behavior in self-actualization on the Internet is due to the general mechanism of self-actualization, in which the change in the measure of self-confidence plays a major role.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilarom Demiralay
