The grey areas of Internet use: secret affairs in cyberspace and religiosity

PurposeThe anonymity of the Internet supports an increasing number of deviant behaviors such as secret affairs. This paper aims to investigate whether religiosity has a negative relationship with the incidence of secret affairs in cyberspace and how it moderates the substitution effect between the use of online and off-line channels for such deviant behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors constructed a cross-sectional county-level dataset containing data on US religious adherents' ratios and actual expenditures on a social website related to extramarital affairs. The data were analyzed by ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares regression models.FindingsIn general, religiosity has a negative relationship with secret affairs in cyberspace. It also moderates the relationship between using online (secret affairs websites) and off-line (entertainment facilities) channels for extramarital affairs. The deterrent effect of religiosity is weakened in religious communities with diversified religious teachings/structures and stricter requirements.Originality/valueThis work enriches the understanding of the role of religiosity in online deviant behaviors and provides essential insights for policymakers (e.g. in relation to spillover effects of social norms in cyberspace).

The Tumultuous Island

The years following Sarah and Isaac’s conversion were ones of great change on the island, rife with controversies and rebellion. On the one hand the Brandon-Lopez-Gill clan was prospering, with both Brandon cousins and Lopez-Gill uncles making important marriages. Yet the synagogue was in disarray, with interracial sex often at the center of controversies. While unmarried Jewish men like Sarah and Isaac’s father suffered no penalties for extramarital affairs, married Jews and religious leaders found themselves repeatedly sanctioned by the synagogue, their intimate affairs laid open. Racial tensions on the island reached a peak in 1816 when a slave revolt broke out near the southern coast. In the years following the revolt, free people of color would seek compensation for their support in suppressing the insurrection. Petitions and religion, rather than open rebellion, became the new path to power.

Online Temptations: Divorce and Extramarital Affairs in Kazakhstan

In recent years, the institution of marriage in Muslim Central Asia has undergone profound transformations in terms of religious dynamics, migration patterns, and the impact of globalization. In Kazakhstan between 2014 and 2019, every third marriage ended in divorce. By examining how Muslim Kazakhs’ support for divorce and casual sex is related to their consumption of information obtained on the Internet, mobile phone, and social media, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on the transformative forces of information and communication technology (ICT) in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. It uses a mixed-method approach that contrasts wider statistical trends from the World Values Survey Wave 7 country dataset on Kazakhstan with empirical data from focus groups conducted in five different regions of the country in 2019, involving a total of 96 respondents. The findings from the statistical and non-statistical analysis show that frequent exposure to information online influences Muslim Kazakhs’ support for extramarital affairs and divorce. Yet, frequent use of ICTs does not necessarily weaken the institution of marriage. Apart from its effect on university-educated female Kazakh youth, it seems to reinforce traditional understanding of marriage obligations among older generations and young men.

Intimate partner violence, spouse extramarital affairs, and depression among women in rural Uganda

Background Depression is highly prevalent among women compared to men. Women in rural areas are more at risk of depression compared to their peers in urban areas. Some of the factors associated with depression among married women are spouse related factors including extramarital affairs and intimate partner violence (IPV).Objective To determine the prevalence of depression and factors associated with depression among married women in rural Southwestern Uganda.Methods This was a cross-sectional study in rural southwestern Uganda among married/cohabiting women aged 18 to 45 years. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to assess for depression, composite abuse scale (Revised) – Short Form (CASR-SF to measure IPV. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations between depression and several factors including spouse extramarital affair, IPV, and sociodemographic factors.Results We enrolled 153 women, mean (standard deviation) age of 33.3 (6.7) and the majority were unemployed. The mean number of children between the couple was 4.05 (2.17). More than half (65,4%) had depressive symptoms and 64.1% had experienced intimate spouse violence. The reported spouses’ mean (SD) age was 43.4 (9.5). Almost half (49.65%) were known to be involved in an extramarital affair. There was a statically significant association between depression among women and spouse extramarital affairs (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 24.93; 95% CI 1.25–498.34]; p-value = 0.04).Conclusion There was a high prevalence of depression and intimate partner violence among women in rural Uganda. The high prevalence was associated with spouse extramarital affairs. There should be routine screening for depression and intimate partner violence among married women at lower-level health facilities in rural settings especially those whose husbands are involved in extramarital affairs to ensure early diagnosis and access to appropriate mental health care to maintain functionality in society and family level since women are the backbone of their families.

Political Scandal and Public Figure

Indonesian society is familiar with the terms 'public figures' and 'celebrities', but the distinction is often not understood properly. The public's interest in content that focuses on entertainment, lifestyles, and gossip, as well as the presence of a media that facilitates such content, makes the process of 'celebrating' common. This process has resulted in the private space of public figures being transformed into objects of public consumption.Scandals are often quite popularly discussed among the public, especially when their subject is a public figure. However, studies of how scandals affect the public and its political behaviour have not been widely documented. In 2018, Indonesian news media began widely covering the divorce of well-known politician Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (BTP/Ahok) from his ex-wife Veronica Tan, and this brought questions of extramarital affairs to the surface in the midst of a heated local election atmosphere. This situation was divisive, and received various public responses. Previous studies have shown that scandals tend to negatively affect popular attitudes towards the politicians involved in them. In Indonesia, scandals have been common, widely recognised by the public, but their effects are never discussed in depth. Therefore, this study, which involved around 400 respondents, seeks to provide an overview of how the Indonesian public responds to politicians involved in scandals and how such scandals affect politicians' electability. The results of this study show that scandals do affect the public's political attitude, but not in the ways suggested by existing studies.