Honesty as the Best Policy?An Examination of Online Chatters' Interpersonal Deception in Taiwan

Abstract

網路問世後，線上欺騙對人際傳播的影響成為一個有趣的研究問題。本研究針對台灣地區二十位具有兩年以上線上聊天經驗的聊天族進行深度訪談，試圖瞭解線上欺騙對線上聊天者雙方人際關係的影響，結果發現（一）多數受訪者表示他們曾在線上聊天時騙過熟悉的人或陌生人；同樣地，他們也被熟悉的人或陌生人騙過；（二）受訪者在線上聊天時欺騙熟悉的人主要是「好玩」；但是他們欺騙陌生人的原因除了「好玩」之外，也是為了免於「受到心理上的傷害」；（三）受訪者認為他們大多可以輕而易舉地發現對方是否欺騙他們；相對地，受訪者也大多很有自信地認為線上聊天的另一方不太容易察覺正受騙；（四）如果雙方原本就熟識，線上欺騙行為對雙方的原有關係影響不大。一旦雙方原本不熟悉，可能會有兩種不同狀況發生，結果依雙方的上線聊天動機或態度而不同，只因好玩或為了殺時間而上線聊天的人，發現受騙時會選擇一笑置之， 但線上聊天者如果有被欺騙感情或感到不舒服的感覺時，線上欺騙會讓他們感到不悅，甚至採取報復行為。

With the advent of the Internet, the impact of online deception on interpersonal communication becomes intriguing. This study focuses on twenty online chatters in Taiwan with at least 2-year online chatting experience as research targets and employed qualitative interviews to solicit information about online interpersonal deception. It is found that (1) most interviewees reported that they had deceived strangers or intimate others online at least once, and vice versa; (2) their motive of deceiving intimate others was reported only for fun whereas the motives of deceiving strangers were for fun and/or preventing himself/herself from being hurt mentally; (3) interviewees indicated they could detect others’ online interpersonal deception easily whereas their deceptions were seldom detected by others; (4) online interpersonal deception would not affect the relationships between people with an intimate social tie. However, the outcomes of online interpersonal deception between two strangers were associated with their attitudes about being deceived. Those who took online interpersonal deception seriously wanted to stop chatting with those who deceived and to take revenge whereas people who chatted online only for fun would ignore the online interpersonal deception.