Comparative optimism for judgements about online identity theft

Betts, LR ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6147-8089, Baguley, T ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0477-2492, Gardner, SE ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3443-7844, Macaulay, PJR ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4891-9940 and Metwally, SE, 2024. Comparative optimism for judgements about online identity theft. Behavior and Information Technology. ISSN 0144-929X

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Abstract

Individuals believe that negative events are less likely to happen to them than others – termed optimistic bias. The research aimed to explore developmental differences in comparative optimism for online identity theft (Study 1) and the impact of previous experiences of identity theft and representativeness of comparator groups for such judgements (Study 2). Study 1 included 101 late adolescents, 226 emerging adults, and 147 adults. Study 2 included 313 university students. In both studies, participants provided judgements about the likelihood of experiencing online identity theft and in Study 2 experiences of identity theft, fear of identity theft, and representativeness. Both studies provided evidence of optimistic bias; participants reported that they were less at risk of experiencing online identity theft than others. There was no effect of age (Study 1), and judgements were not accounted for by the targets' representativeness of the comparator groups (Study 2). Fear of identity theft mediated the relationship between previous experiences of identity theft and perceptions of risk for the self (Study 2). The findings contribute to our understanding of how online risks are perceived and have implications for online safety messages.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Behavior and Information Technology
Creators:	Betts, L.R., Baguley, T., Gardner, S.E., Macaulay, P.J.R. and Metwally, S.E.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date:	23 December 2024
ISSN:	0144-929X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/0144929X.2024.2443799 DOI 2324327 Other
Rights:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	07 Jan 2025 16:08
Last Modified:	07 Jan 2025 16:08
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52797

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