Name: Jessie Swanek
Area of Study: Forensic
In what program are you currently enrolled? PhD
What year of the program are you currently in? 1
Citation in APA format:
Karasavva, V., Swanek, J., Smodis, A., & Forth, A. (2022). Expectations vs reality: Expected and actual affective reactions to unsolicited sexual images. Computers in Human Behavior, 130(6), 107181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107181
Plain language abstract:
Cyberflashing is defined as the unsolicited sending of nude or sexual images digital media. Despite the media attention cyberflashing has garnered, there is little work on the topic in the empirical literature, especially when it comes to cyberflashing that is not limited to the sending of genital images by cisgender men (“dick pics”). Here, we examined the cyberflashing practices, expectations, and reactions of both men and women in a sample of 810 undergraduate students (41.8% cyberflashers; 68.0% had been cyberflashed). We found that expecting a flirty or positive reaction and not expecting a negative reaction were predictive of cyberflashing. Further, we found that women cyberflashers were more likely to expect a flirty or positive reaction, while men cyberflashers were more likely to expect a negative reaction. Finally, we found that women who are cyberflashed typically reported having a negative reaction, while men reported typically having a flirty or positive reaction.
How did the idea for this research come about?
Vasileia Karasavva came up with this project idea. Even though at times cyberflashing feels so ubiquitous it’s hard to escape, there is little research on the topic! Moreover, the research that does exist seems to center the experiences of heterosexual women who are cyberflashed and cisgender men who cyberflash, and as a consequence our understanding of the topic is limited. Finally, cyberflashing has been conceptualized in previous work both as a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence and a way to flirt in the twenty-first century. Looking at the topic, we felt like the missing puzzle piece that could help us understand what the case is, is exploring the expectations of those who cyberflash and the reactions of those who are cyberflashed to confirm if there is truly a disconnect between the two sides. Given that sexual scripts often differ for people of different genders and sexual orientations, we decided to also examine how these expectations and reactions differ based on these demographic factors, along with previous cyberflashing history.
How did you collect the data for this project?
Data collection was completed online between October 2019 and February 2020 on Qualtrics. Participants were recruited using the SONA system at Carleton University. Efforts were also made to recruit more non-heterosexual participants by placing posters on campus. We were also discussing on potentially extending data collection in the spring/summer to exclusively try and recruit more non-heterosexual participants, but the pandemic came along and stopped our plans.
Was the journal you published in the first journal you submitted this paper to?
Yes.
Why did you choose this journal?
We chose this journal because it focuses on how computers are used for interactions between people, which is exactly what cyberflashing encompasses: the use of technology to send someone an unsolicited nude or sexual image.
How many other journals did you submit this paper to before it landed in the journal that eventually published your work?
0
What was your revision experience?
My revision experience was okay overall! Many of the first round reviewer comments were just additional details or clarification, but a few reviewer comments involved our grouping of non-heterosexual participants, and we had to explain why we had to do that (low numbers in those groups) and re-run a few analyses to show them that no results changed. It was scary not knowing how the reviewers would react. In the second round, they just asked us to include a detail from our revision document into the manuscript. Overall, we felt like the reviewers made our manuscript stronger!
How many rounds of revision did you experience?
2
Did you need to collect new data to satisfy a reviewer?
No
How long did it take from first submission to acceptance?
5 months
Was this paper conducted as part of your MA thesis?
No
How did this project come about?
Vasileia Karasavva is Dr. Forth’s past master’s student, and she has become a great collaborator with me and the other masters students currently in Dr. Forth’s lab! She knows that I’m interested in the area of technology-facilitated sexual violence and asked if I would like to join the project.
Was this research conducted with your supervisor?
Yes, this research was conducted with my MA thesis supervisor, Dr. Adelle Forth.
Was this research conducted with fellow graduate students in our program?
Yes, with Audrey Smodis.
Was this research conducted with researchers external to Carleton?
Yes, with Vasileia Karasavva, a former Carleton student (now at the University of British Columbia).
You can access the article here.