Abstract
ObjectivesIt is important to understand what factors make some users of social media engage in risky activities. This under-researched area is the focus of the present study which applies the dual-process Prototype Willingness Model to demonstrate the potential role of reasoned and social reactive pathways in explaining risk behaviors in adolescents and adults in the online environment. DesignQuantitative single time point study using online survey data from an international sample of social media users (N = 1220). MethodsTwo-step logistic regression analysis tested the predictive ability of the reactive pathway variables of the Prototype Willingness Model above and beyond reasoned pathway variables from expectancy-value models such as the Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behavior. ResultsThe reactive pathway variables increased explained variance in willingness to engage in online risk behaviors (compared to reasoned pathway variables alone) by a mean improvement of 6.2% across both adolescent and adult age groups. Prototype favorability (how positively or negatively an individual judges their perception of the ‘typical person’ to engage in a risk behavior) emerged as a particularly strong predictor of willingness to engage in online risky behavior. The predictive ability of prototype similarity (an individuals perceived similarity to the ‘typical person’ to engage in risk behavior) differed according to the type of risk behavior involved, with similarity on conscientiousness and extraversion appearing to have the most influence upon willingness. ConclusionsReactive pathways significantly predict willingness to engage in risky behavior online across both age groups. The reactive pathway variables explained more additional variance in willingness for adolescents compared to adults suggesting that reactive processes may play a bigger part in adolescents’ online risk taking; with decision making potentially shifting towards a more reasoned, analytical pathway in adulthood.
Highlights
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offer opportunities for users to interact and share information with their friends and family and with people who have similar interests
331 This study aimed to investigate the factors underlying social media users’ willingness to engage in four different types of online risk behaviors, and to evaluate the predictive ability of the social reactive pathway to risk proposed by the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM)
The reactive pathway variables showed predictive ability above and beyond the reasoned pathway antecedents for all four risk behaviors
Summary
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offer opportunities for users to interact and share information with their friends and family and with people who have similar interests. Little is known about the role of these or other types of social cognitive factors To fill this gap the present research adopted a dual-process framework of the type set out in the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM: Gerrard, Gibbons, Houlihan, Stock, & Pomery, 2008; Gibbons, Gerrard, Blanton, & Russell, 1998) to predict willingness to engage in four different types of risky online activities: sharing embarrassing photos, publicly sharing one’s current location, engaging in and sharing the videos of risky pranks and stunts, and engaging in sexual communication with strangers. These four behaviors were chosen as we wished to investigate risk taking behavior which reflects behaviors at the heart of social media: sharing, i.e., location sharing, photo sharing and online communication; and these behaviors have previously been linked to social media usage (Brake, 2014)
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