Understanding darkness: age, sex, and tech-proficiency in knowledge and perceptions of technology-mediated abuse

Abstract

This article examines how people understand technology-mediated abuse (TMA) between adult romantic partners. Because knowledge and attitudes regarding sensitive issues are created and shaped via technology, users’ interpretations are crucial to understanding life-threatening relational situations such as TMA. In this study, 551 individuals were recruited via community-based chain-referral sampling and asked to describe TMA (e.g., online stalking, hacking, verbal attack, etc.). To varying degrees, age, sex, and technological proficiency each and also, interactively predicted TMA perceptions. Findings showed that older (vs. younger) and male (vs. female) individuals understood different technology-mediated behaviors as harmful when used by adult romantic partners.