A Comparison of Types of Confrontation of People with Ethical Situations in Cyberspace and Real World

The present research aims to study the probable differences between confrontation with ethical situations in the cyberspace and in the real world.
The statistical population of this research included all adult users of cyberspace in Iran. The sample included 365 users who were selected through available sampling method. 16 short story scenarios (4 gender couples and 4 common couples) were developed by the researcher in a manner that each couple assessed a specific subject in the field of ethics once in the cyberspace and once in the real world.
The findings of the research indicate that in most proposed ethical cases – for instance betrayal, theft, privacy, etc. – there is a significant difference in type of confrontation and ethical judgement of users in the virtual and real worlds. The level of this difference varies depending on the nature of ethical subject, but except in minor cases, it is not affected by individual variables. Due to specific characteristics of the virtual world, such as anonymity, being out of control and other features, people in the cyberspace are more liberal regarding ethical issues and behave below their usual ethical standards.