Screen-to-screen sex Study heats up at UNB

UNB PhD candidate finds more than 70 per cent of students surveyed engage in some form of cybersex

By Damira Davletyarova — The
Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick)

FREDERICTON (CUP) — Students
are getting sexier with their online
communication, a UNB PhD candidate
says.
Krystelle Shaughnessy, PhD
candidate in Clinical Psychology at
UNB, said cybersex among students is
becoming more prevalent. Shaughnessy
has been collecting data from
heterosexual UNB students about their
cybersex activity, their understanding of
cybersex, experiences and outcomes.

Preliminary results, from those
who have already completed the online
survey, indicate more than 70 per
cent of UNB students engage in some
form of cybersex activity. In 2006, her
research showed that only 25 per cent
of students had cybersex.

Shaughnessy explained the hike
in the numbers is due to the increasing
roles of technology and Internet in
modern life, and it is especially visible
among students.

“Students are particularly
important to look at, because how
often are students not attached to
their computers?” she said in a phone
interview.

 UNB graduate student Maryna Ivus
said she and her long-term boyfriend
turned to the Internet to continue
their relationship, after she moved to
Fredericton to pursue her studies. The
lack of face-to-face contact, hours
of conversation and availability of
technology were among reasons they
turned to cybersex, she said.

In the beginning, Ivus said, she
felt uncomfortable. But knowing her
boyfriend was on the other side of
the screen, and cybersex is now so
widespread among students, made her
feel it is an option for someone in a
long-distance relationship.

“T think a lot of students are doing
that [cybersex]. It’s just a more secret,
intimate topic,” she said. :

Five years ago, when the PhD
candidate was just beginning her
research about cyber sexuality, she
was starting at square one. The topic
was under-researched, the definition
was unclear and it kept changing with
technological advancements. With
the effort of a team of researchers and
student surveys at UNB, she could
finally put together an answer to the
question, “what is cybersex?”

“Cybersex occurs in real-time.

It’s a sexual communication where at
least two people are involved, so you
can’t do it on your own. That means it’s
different from looking at erotic images
or videos,” Shaughnessy said.

“People are describing either sexual
activities or sexual fantasies, sexual
interests or desires ... and it is over the
Internet or some medium. People can
or may not be self-stimulating; it might
be about sexual arousal, it might not be
about sexual arousal.”

Shaughnessy stated clearly that
her research is focused on recreational
cybersex — infrequent, online sexual
activity which is not compulsive,
obsessive, or addictive.

In her most recent study,
Shaughnessy noticed there are more
positive outcomes reported by students
rather than negative ones. In terms of
safety, she said, recreational cybersex is
safer than any other sexual activity.

“There is no risk of pregnancy,
there is no risk of STDs, decreased
risk of harassment or assaults, or even
rejection, because you have more
control over what’s happening on
your computer screen,” she said. “If
something starts to go where you don’t
want it go, you can just shut off the
computer.”

At the same time, Shaughnessy
said, nothing is safe, and students must
be careful.

According to the same preliminary
data, more men than women responded
to the survey. Shaughnessy said there
could be many explanations for this. It
could be that men are more comfortable
to admit having had cybersex or
perhaps they are more interested in it
than women. The researcher is also
interested to find out why both genders
decide to have cybersex.

“Are men and women using
cybersex to experiment with activities
that they are not comfortable to
experiment with offline?” she said.

Shaughnessy still has plenty of
questions to answer. For example,

Aton

  

 

with whom and on what occasions are
people engaging in cybersex activities?
The data collection is still ongoing.
Shaugnessy is looking for male
students, 18 and over to complete her
online study Sexuality and Intimacy

on the Internet, which can be found at
unbstudy.com.

As for Ivus, she knows exactly
why she doesn’t want to have cybersex
anymore. She said it was just a part of
her long-distance relationship, a step
in her life, maybe even fear that she
overcame, but she tried it — and she
didn’t enjoy it.

“Still, it’s unreal. For me, it is
important to hug the person, to feel the
person and to see him every day.”