[how] such activities fit into an individual's sexual biography and impact relationships between sexual partners and peers" (p. 1099).
Participants will be invited to complete a brief online questionnaire that details their participation in OSAs, as well as their demographic information and the nature of their current relationships, including their relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and participation in extra-dyadic sexual relations (i.e. infidelity). In addition, participants will also complete a screening questionnaire to determine whether or not they meet a clinical cut off point to be considered addicted to Internet Sexuality or OSAs (Delmonico & Miller, 2003). The surveys will be delivered using a free online survey website, such as SurveyMonkey.com, and the sample will be drawn from a selection of students on campus through posting on social networking sites such as Facebook and using flyers posted around the campus. Due to the online nature of the survey, all data collected will be completely anonymous, thereby addressing any concerns related to confidentiality in investigating a personal subject such as sex and the Internet.
The results of the data will be analyzed to compare the frequency of OSA with relationship outcome measures, including relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction. While the existing literature appears to predict that participation in OSAs will be associated with poorer relationship outcomes, the current study proposes that individuals who report participating in OSAs with their 'real-life' partners will report greater relationship satisfaction,...
Furthermore, it is predicted that individuals participating in OSAs with their real-life partners will not have scores indicative of Internet sex addition on the sex addiction-screening questionnaire.
It is hoped that this study will fill a gap in the literature on Internet Sexuality that has failed to conceive of the possibility for positive outcomes as a result of Online Sexual Activities. It is quite plausible that using the Internet for sexual communication and activity may very well serve as simply a new form of sexuality, a method of augmenting and expanding one's sexual repertoire and experience, thereby breaking through the existing notions that Internet Sexuality is nearly always linked to sexual addiction and sexual compulsion, wrecking havoc with the real-life relationships of its participants.
References
Cooper, a., Morahan-Martin, J., Mathy, R.M., & Maheu, M. (2002). Toward an Increased Understanding of User Demographics in Online Sexual Activities. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 28, 105-120.
Cooper, a., Mansson, S., Daneback, K., Tikkanen, R., & Ross, M.W. (2003). Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18(3), 277-291.
Delmonico, D.L. & Miller, J.A. (2003). The Internet Sex Screening Test: A comparison of sexual compulsives vs. non-sexual compulsives. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18(3), 261-276.
Doring, N.M. (2009). The Internet's impact on sexuality: A critical review of 15 years of research. Computers in Human Behavior, 25, 1089-1101.
