A Study of Cyberspace (the Internet) User's Emotional Security A Case Study of University Students in Qazvin Province

Although cyberspace, especially the Internet, has found its way into human life inthe recent decades, it has grown rapidly and has had a great impact on variousaspects man’s life. The growing development of information technology andthe Internet has created extensive changes in all aspects of human life includingpolitical, social, economic, defense and security areas. Currently, the Internet canplay a very important role in emotional security issues. Absolute freedom of speechand dissemination of news, rumors, unethical issues, political tensions, economicand socio-cultural issues all indicate the central role of cyberspace in psychologicalsecurity and mental health of the society. Hence, the present study was carriedout to evaluate the effect of cyberspace on the emotional security of universitystudents in Qazvin Province, Iran. The research method was survey and the sampleincluded 383 students. Data collection was carried out through the Maslow-Mahabad questionnaire and a researcher-made questionnaire. To answer theresearch questions, the collected data was analyzed by means of one-way ANOVAand content analysis aided by SPSS software. The results suggest that hours of usingthe Internet, the favorite Internet topics, and membership in social networks impacton the students’ emotional security.