tailieunhanh - The Online Disinhibition Effect BY JOHN SULER, Ph.D.

While online, some people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person. This article explores six factors that interact with each other in creating this online disinhibition effect: dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority. Personality variables also will influence the extent of this disinhibition. Rather than thinking of disinhibition as the revealing of an underlying “true self,” we can conceptualize it as a shift to a constellation within self-structure, involving clusters of affect and cognition that differ from the in-person constellation | CyberPsychology Behavior Volume 7 Number 3 2004 Mary Ann Liebert Inc. The Online Disinhibition Effect JOHN SULER . abstract While online some people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person. This article explores six factors that interact with each other in creating this online disinhibition effect dissociative anonymity invisibility asynchronicity solipsistic in-trojection dissociative imagination and minimization of authority. Personality variables also will influence the extent of this disinhibition. Rather than thinking of disinhibition as the revealing of an underlying true self we can conceptualize it as a shift to a constellation within self-structure involving clusters of affect and cognition that differ from the in-person constellation. introduction Everyday users on the Internet as well as clinicians and researchers1-7 have noted how people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn t ordinarily say and do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up feel less restrained and express themselves more openly. So pervasive is the phenomenon that a term has surfaced for it the online disinhibition effect. This disinhibition can work in two seemingly opposing directions. Sometimes people share very personal things about themselves. They reveal secret emotions fears wishes. They show unusual acts of kindness and generosity sometimes going out of their way to help others. We may call this benign disinhibition. However the disinhibition is not always so salutary. We witness rude language harsh criticisms anger hatred even threats. Or people visit the dark underworld of the Internet places of pornography crime and violence territory they would never explore in the real world. We may call this toxic disinhibition. Some types of benign disinhibition indicate an attempt to better understand and develop oneself to resolve interpersonal and intrapsychic problems or explore new emotional and experiential dimensions to one s .