Title: Cyberdeviance among students - a multidimensional scaling approach

Authors: Senthil Kumar Arumugam; S. Ramesh; Budha Anuradha

Addresses: SRM Arts and Science College, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu 603 203, India ' School of Commerce, Jain (Deemed-to-be University), Jayanagara 9th Block, Bangalore, Karnataka 560069, India ' Department of Professional Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Central Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560029, India

Abstract: Cyberdeviance off late has been gaining a lot of attention because of the increased use. Educational institutions have also made the internet available to its student to improve their exposure to various educational information. Hence, it becomes essential to identify a model that helps understand college factors to cyberdivert. The study focused on assessing whether college students are involved in cyberdeviation and the demographic effect on internet behaviour and cyberdeviance. The multidimensional approach was used to understand cyberdeviance. Data were collected from 264 students using convenience sampling in Bengaluru city, India. The study found that the respondents prefer to use the internet mainly for games and prefer least for theft, harassment, adult content, and hacking. They misused the internet due to the fear of unemployment and were involved in internet fraud to deploy knowledge.

Keywords: cyberdeviance; cybercrime; education; internet; multidimensional scaling; MDS; technology; university students.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSPM.2025.148527

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 2025 Vol.16 No.3, pp.286 - 307

Received: 04 Feb 2021
Accepted: 04 Oct 2021
Published online: 11 Sep 2025 *

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