Moral Beliefs, Self-Control, and Sports: Effective Antidotes to the Youth Computer Hacking Epidemic

Abstract

While research on computer hackers has a long history, most of the studies in the past three decades have been qualitative and anecdotal in nature. The question why young computer talents become computer hackers remains. Based on the results of a case study, we conducted a survey based empirical study using the scenario based research methodology. Statistical analyses show that three primary factors contribute to the likelihood of talents becoming hackers: moral beliefs, self-control, and time spent on computer games vs. sports activities. Our results indicate that individuals who have strong moral beliefs against hacking activities, strong abilities to control temper, and spend more time in sports than on computer games are less likely to be involved in computer hacking activities. The significant implications of these findings for scholars, educators, and policy makers are discussed and future research directions are explored.