The MySpace Generation
The MySpace Generation:
Adolescents Living in a Virtual World
Symposium
Western Psychological Association
May 3, 2007
Vancouver, BC
The MySpace Generation
• Parental Limit Setting: Monitoring What Children
are Doing in Cyberspace Cheyenne Cummings,
B.A.
• Parenting Children in a Virtual World: How
Parental Attachment Influences Teen Online
Behavior Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D.
• Parental Perceptions of Teen MySpace Behaviors
Michelle Albertella, B.A.
• The Psychological Impact of Living Life in a
Virtual World Jyenny Babcock, B.A.
• Sexual Harassment on MySpace: Are Predators
Lurking Around Every (Virtual) Corner? Nancy
Cheever, M.A.
The MySpace Generation
FOUR STUDIES
 Study 1: February 2006
N = 1,257 MySpacers; 241 Teenagers
 Study 2: June 2006
N = 267 Parent-Teen Pairs
 Study 3: September 2006
N = 342 Parent-Teen Pairs
 Study 4: March 2007
N = 482 Parent-Teen Pairs
The MySpace Generation
NOTES ON PRESENTATIONS
Each presentation will focus on some combination
of these studies. For additional information about
our work on MySpace we will have two posters on
Friday 3:30 - 4:30 PM
The Effect of Virtual Worlds on Adolescents' Real
World Lives (Cheyenne Cummings)
Adolescents on MySpace: Who, What, When, Where,
Why and How (Julia Rifa)
The MySpace Generation
VARIABLES MEASURED
 MySpace Behaviors
 MySpace Experiences
 MySpace Attitudes
 Parenting Behaviors
 Psychological Variables
The MySpace Generation
TEEN MYSPACE BEHAVIORS
 When they first joined MySpace
 Days/week & Hours/day on MySpace
 What they do on MySpace
 Divulging personal information
 Blogging
The MySpace Generation
TEEN NEGATIVE MYSPACE EXPERIENCES
 Sexual solicitation
 Cyberbullying
 Exposure to sexual materials
 Exposure to sexual talk
The MySpace Generation
PARENT MYSPACE BEHAVIORS
 How often the parent look at teen’s MySpace
page
 Awareness of time their teen spends on
MySpace
 Where is the teen’s computer located?
The MySpace Generation
PARENT MYSPACE BEHAVIORS
 Where does their teen access MySpace?
 Awareness of personal information their teen
divulges
 Limits and monitoring of MySpace and
computer use
The MySpace Generation
TEEN AND PARENT MYSPACE ATTITUDES
 Concerns about MySpace use (sexual
predators, harassment, pornography, addiction,
online friends)
 MySpace use interfering with offline world
 Attitude toward prevalence of sexual predators
 Attitude toward media coverage of predators
The MySpace Generation
PARENTING BEHAVIORS
 Parenting style (Authoritative, Authoritarian,
Indulgent, Neglectful)
 Parent limit setting and monitoring
 Parental restrictions
 Discussing MySpace experiences
The MySpace Generation
PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES
 Parent-Teen attachment
 Parent-Teen intimacy
 Teen self-esteem
 Teen Internet addiction
 Teen family and friend support
 Teen depression
 Online social confidence
 Online feeling of social liberation
 Online/offline shyness and honesty
The MySpace Generation
PARENT DEMOGRAPHICS
Gender: Male (29%) Female (72%)
Age: Under 40 (43%) Over 40 (57%)
Ethnic Background:
Asian (12%) Black (19%) Caucasian (26%)
Latino/a (40%)
Education: Some College (28%) College Degree
(39%)
Married: 69% Single Parent: 13%
Number of Children: 2.2
Employed Fulltime: 69%
The MySpace Generation
TEEN DEMOGRAPHICS
Gender: Male (42%) Female (58%)
Age:
9-14 (24%)
15-16 (35%)
17-18 (41%)
The MySpace Generation
Our next speaker will be Cheyenne Cummings
who will speak on:
Parental Limit Setting: Monitoring What
Children are Doing in Cyberspace