THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATIONS ON STALKING SEVERITY: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF CYBERSTALKING FIELD DATA By STEPHEN DEAN BARNES Bachelor of Arts University of Washington Seattle, WA 1983 Master of Science in Telecommunications University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, CO 1991 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December, 2007 THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATIONS ON STALKING SEVERITY: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF CYBERSTALKING FIELD DATA Dissertation Approved: Rick L. Wilson Dissertation Adviser David Biros John Cross Mark Weiser A. Gordon Emslie Dean of the Graduate College ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to recognize a number of people who have supported this dissertation. Although I am listed as the only author, several people here have given unselfishly to enable this dissertation to be written. To all of them I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude. First, to my chairman, Rick Wilson, thank you. Your efforts kept me on track and without your support, I would not have been able to complete all of the tasks assigned on this journey of discovery. Second, to David Biros, an even bigger thank you. Without your constant guidance and ideas, and most particularly your contacts at WHOA, I would not have had any data, or even such a topic to work with for this dissertation. I also owe thanks to Mark Weiser and John Cross for their support and contributions to this effort. This truly was a team effort. Finally, my deepest thanks must go to my family. Thank you, Dad and Mom, for your constant support and encouragement. To my sons, Forrest and Ansel, thank you for understanding all the times when I could not play a family game, but rather had to be “up on the computer,” working long hours at this dissertation. And last but most certainly not least, to Lani my wife, thank you. It was your constant harassment that started me down this road and kept me at it when I most wanted to walk away. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ 1 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 3 Research Question ........................................................................................................ 5 Organization of the Paper ............................................................................................. 7 II. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 8 Cyberstalking as a Communicative Act........................................................................ 9 A Cognitive-Affective Model of Organizational Communication ......................... 9 Validating CAMOC With Respect to Disjunctive Relationships......................... 12 Communications Processes................................................................................... 16 Channel Characteristics of CMC Tools ................................................................ 19 Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Online Harassment ....................................................... 21 Dimensions of Stalking............................................................................................... 23 The Relationship Intimacy Level.......................................................................... 24 The Context of the Relationship ........................................................................... 25 Anonymous Stalkers ............................................................................................. 26 The Form of Attachment....................................................................................... 27 Temporal Dimension ............................................................................................ 28 Harassing Acts ............................................................................................................ 30 Online Methods Used by Cyberstalkers ..................................................................... 32 Case Severity in Cyberstalking................................................................................... 33 III. RESEARCH MODEL & HYPOTHESIS................................................................... 35 Research Model .......................................................................................................... 35 Relationship Intimacy and Context............................................................................. 36 Main Effects: Intimacy Level ............................................................................... 40 Main Effects: Context........................................................................................... 41 Main Effects: Anonymity ..................................................................................... 41 CMC Channel Characteristics..................................................................................... 42 Media Channel Richness....................................................................................... 43 Media Channel Interactivity ................................................................................. 44 Media Channel Distribution.................................................................................. 45 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 47 iv IV. METHODOLOGY & ANALYTICAL APPROACH ................................................ 48 Data Source & Description ......................................................................................... 48 The Independent Variables ......................................................................................... 51 Media Channel Characteristics ............................................................................. 52 Prior Relationship Level of Intimacy and Context ............................................... 54 Anonymity of the Harasser ................................................................................... 55 Case Severity – The Dependent Variable ................................................................... 56 Harassing Activities.............................................................................................. 57 Threats................................................................................................................... 59 Case Results.......................................................................................................... 60 AHP Severity Factor Weights............................................................................... 61 Statistical Methods...................................................................................................... 62 V. RESULTS ................................................................................................................... 65 Relationship Context and its Effect on Cyberstalking Severity.................................. 65 Relationship Intimacy by Context Results (H1) ................................................... 65 Relationship Intimacy and Context Main Effects (H2 & H3) .............................. 68 Anonymity Results (H4)....................................................................................... 69 Impacts of CMC Channel Characteristics on Cyberstalking Severity........................ 70 CMC Channel Richness (H5) ............................................................................... 70 CMC Channel Interactivity (H6) .......................................................................... 72 CMC Channel Distribution (H7) .......................................................................... 74 Post Hoc Analysis....................................................................................................... 75 Online Media Usage Results................................................................................. 76 Gender in Cyberstalking Data............................................................................... 77 Gender Results...................................................................................................... 78 Other Results......................................................................................................... 79 VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................... 80 Summary Of Findings................................................................................................. 80 Implications for Researchers....................................................................................... 83 Implications for Practitioners...................................................................................... 84 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 85 Areas for Further Research ......................................................................................... 86 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 87 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 89 APPENDIX A: CODING GUIDELINES FOR CYBERSTALKING DATA ................. 96 Project Objectives ......................................................................................................