| The Internet is portrayed in a growing number of studies as a social environment, which facilitates experimentation with one's identity. The unique nature of this medium allows its users to attain an intimacy of sorts while also providing anonymity The Internet serves as a textual mask that hides one's identity thus, granting users the freedom to reveal new sides of themselves. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand why women create secret identities and how they use them in chat rooms and online-role-playing games. In this context, the term "secret identities" refers to hidden aspects of one's personality, sides that are not evident to others. In addition, the study examined identity exploration in a developmental context. The study focused on women in the early adulthood stage in order to see whether the need to create secret identities was related to the negotiation of developmental tasks. The case study was comprised of a group of five female participants, 20 to 40 years old, from various cultural backgrounds. Two in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant. Content analysis of the data showed that regardless of the topic of discussion within the chat rooms, participants had similar motivation to use these forums to create secret identities (none of the participants used online-role-playing games).; Participants wished to escape problems and used chat rooms as a distraction; they were seeking emotional and sexual outlets; they were bored and hoped to find entertainment online; and finally, they were lonely and wished to connect with other users. Although the initial motivation to create these identities was conscious and had to do with the difficult circumstances the participants were dealing with, over time, the secret selves became a vehicle for experimentation with different aspects of their identity and served to work through unconscious conflicts related to sexuality, aggression and negative emotions. It seems that these identities helped some participants deal with developmental tasks, for example by serving as virtual transitional objects and helping to negotiate separation. Identity play seemed to have three possible outcomes: a therapeutic experience which leads to integration of split-off parts; an opportunity for free expression or acting out but without any long term changes; or a potentially hurtful and damaging experience. This last outcome highlights the need for caution in an online environment. Online relationships were seen to play a crucial role in the process of identity formation; both positive and negative aspects of these relationships are examined in this study. |
