Cyber-flirting : an examination of men's and women's flirting behaviour both offline and on the internet

While flirting is a relatively under-researched area within psychology, we know even less about how people cyber-flirt. This paper explores how often individuals flirt offline compared to online. Moreover, it attempts to examine how men and women flirt within these different spaces. Five thousand, six hundred and ninety seven individuals, of which 3554 (62%) were women and 2143 (38%) were men, completed a survey about their flirting behaviour both in face-to-face interactions and in Chat Rooms. The first hypothesis, which stated that the body would be used to flirt with as frequently online as offline, was partly supported. However, it was found that individuals downplayed the importance of physical attractiveness online. Women flirted by displaying non-verbal signals (offline) or substitutes for non-verbal cues (online), to a greater extent than men. In Chat Rooms men were more likely than women to initiate contact. It was concluded that cyber-flirting is more than simply a meeting of minds and that future research needs to consider the role of the body in online interactions