Citation

Helsper EJ, Reisdorf BC. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 2013; 16(2): 94-99.

Affiliation

Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom. e.j.helsper@lse.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/cyber.2012.0257

PMID

23249243

Abstract

This article investigates patterns of reasons for digital disengagement of British adults. It adds a psychological dimension to research that is mostly sociological in nature in trying to separate out explanations for disengaging from the Internet by choice or by forced exclusion. The analysis of a nationally representative survey shows differences between the number of reasons and the most important reasons among different sociodemographic groups, but also among individuals with different psychological profiles. The findings suggest that ex- and nonusers do not have one simple reason for nonuse, but a multifaceted range of reasons, which often represent disadvantages at several levels. The range of often mentioned reasons, moreover, shows that motivations for disengagement cannot be measured by means of the most important reason, but that all reasons have to be taken into account and looked at concertedly.

Language: en