Individual differences in susceptibility to cybercrime victimization and its psychological aftermath

Abstract

This study explicated individual differences in susceptibility to cybercrime victimization by predicting that frequent use of information technology (IT) devices is related to greater likelihood of cybercrime victimization (exposure hypothesis), and testing whether individuals more vulnerable to cybercrimes are characterized by higher (overconfidence hypothesis) or lower (negligence hypothesis) levels of IT self-efficacy. Our study also investigated whether cybercrime victimization would influence one's perception of interpersonal relations and subjective well-being. Data were drawn from a representative sample of 1018 Hong Kong participants (46% men; mean age = 42.18). The results from correlation analysis supported the exposure hypothesis by revealing a positive association between IT use and cybercrime victimization. Consistent with both the exposure and overconfidence hypotheses, the mediation analysis showed that IT self-efficacy was positively related to IT use, which in turn was positively related to cybercrime victimization. The correlation analysis further revealed that cybercrime victimization was inversely associated with trusting people online, perceived control, perceived fairness, life satisfaction, and happiness. Our novel findings imply escalating risks of cybercrime victimization as both the amount of IT use and users' IT proficiency are growing, and evidence-based programs are needed to increase users' awareness of the prevalence of cybercrimes and build resilience to combat cyber-attacks.