| Chapter 2: | Background |
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Various researchers (Schneider, 2000; Cooper, 2002; Young, 2000) have documented the effects of cybersex on the compulsive user. These effects include: risk of job loss, guilt and shame, loss of interest in sex with the spouse, increased preoccupation with sex, increased objectification of people, lost sense of self, increased interest in deviant sex, and risk of arrest.
Cybersex behaviors include viewing and downloading of pornographic material, viewing and downloading illegal or deviant sexual images, visiting sexually oriented chat rooms, viewing, downloading, and / or chatting while engaging in masturbation, reading and writing sexually explicit letters and stories, exchanging sexually explicit e-mails with others, exchanging visual images via digital cameras, placing ads to meet sexual partners, and engaging in interactive online affairs. The cybersex consumer may engage in these activities with opposite sex individuals or with same sex individuals. While many of these activities are free, users often have to pay for access or use of these sites. Often, those engaging in cybersex pursue activities offline with individuals they have met while online, including phone sex and skin-to-skin sex. Some cybersex users participate in illegal or paraphilic online activities such as sadomasochism and domination / bondage, bestiality, viewing child pornography, and having sex with underage persons or those who claim to be underage.
Numerous studies have concentrated on non-Internet pornography and its effects on participants (Dines et al., 1998; Perkins, 1997; Dworkin, 1989; Schneider, 2000). Some have focused on the possible effect of heterosexual pornography on aggressive behavior and on the families of consumers of pornography (Zillmann & Bryant, 1988). Other studies have explored Internet relationships (Carnes et al., 2001; Civin, 2000; McKenna & Bargh, 2000; Schnarch, 1997; Young, 1998; Weber-Young, 2001). However, research into the participant’s preoccupation with cybersex and how this affects spouses and partners is in the early stages.