Identi-scope: Multiple identities as a resource for understanding and impacting behaviours in the digital world

最近发生在伦敦的学生抗议活动和阿拉伯世界的民主抗议活动表明，理解由在线互动驱动的同步（政治）行动的重要性。具有一系列不同个人和社会身份的个人，分布在许多不同的社交网络或聊天媒介中，以改变自我和社会的方式在在线和离线世界中进行交互。在线和离线世界融合成一个数字世界，需要研究在线和离线身份之间的关系。根据计算机安全、技术和隐私研究人员关于在线环境中多重身份重要性的证据，以及社会心理学家关于多重身份对理解和改变行为的作用的研究，在这项为期12个月的范围研究中，我们将解决三个相互关联的问题：1）第一个问题是身份显着性问题：如果人们有多重身份，我们如何知道在任何给定的时间，什么身份对个人来说是显着的？2)第二个问题是身份延续/身份变化的问题：在一个多重身份的环境中，是什么让特定的身份得以维持-又是什么导致了变化？3)第三个问题是身份认同作为一种弹性代理的问题：限制或增加个人可用的身份认同数量是否会影响他们承受压力生活事件的能力？为了探索身份显着性的动态性质，我们将进行一系列实验室实验，利用在线环境来探索个人和社会身份显着性的动态变化。鉴于在线身份环境之间可能发生的快速变化，与离线身份交互相比（即点击按钮）-或者多个在线身份可以同时活动的事实（而不是顺序）-我们的目标是使用属性（或可能性），以确定确定身份显著性的关键特征。我们将进行一系列实验，要求参与者一起行动（成为被吸引），并作为小组成员或作为孤立的个人这样做。然后，我们将测试作为社会群体的成员或作为孤立的个体在群体中采取的行动在多大程度上更持久。为了能够在在线环境中进行这些实验，我们将开发一个在线协作平台，允许参与者同时贡献行为（以进行诱导），而不是顺序贡献。同步行为在网络世界中基本上是未被探索的（因为当个体可以共同存在时，夹带是交互的关键特征，但在互联网上的虚拟或分布式交互中要困难得多）。建立这样一个平台来“夹带”特定的身份，不仅对未来的在线社交媒体有着深远的影响，而且对应对特定群体或个人威胁的安全策略和机制也有着深远的影响。为了检验身份作为弹性代理的影响，我们将使用冷压任务（一种众所周知的诱导身体不适的心理学方法）进行一系列实验。在冷加压任务中，参与者被要求把手伸到手腕处，放入一桶冰水中。记录参与者将手放在水中的时间（以秒为单位），并作为耐力/弹性的衡量标准。通过在在线世界中进行身份操纵，但在离线世界中观察弹性行为，我们弥合了数字鸿沟，这对在线参与如何塑造离线行动特别感兴趣。

The recent student protests in London and the pro-democracy protests across the Arab world show the importance of understanding synchronised (political) actions driven by online interactions. Individuals with a range of different personal and social identities, distributed across a number of different social network or chat mediums, interact in both online and offline worlds in ways that transform self and society. This merging of the online and offline worlds into a digital world, requires a study of how online and offline identities relate.Drawing on evidence from computer security, technology and privacy researchers about the importance of multiple identities in online environments, and research from social psychologists about the role of multiple identities for understanding and changing behaviour, in this 12-month scoping study we will address three interrelated questions:1) The first question is the issue of identity salience: if people have multiple identities, how do we know what identity is salient for an individual at any given time? 2) The second question is the issue of identity continuity/ identity change: in a landscape of multiple identities, what allows particular identities to be sustained - and what leads to change?3) The third question is the issue of identity as a resilience agent: does constraining or enhancing the number of identities available to an individual have effects on their ability to withstand stressful life events?To explore the dynamic nature of identity salience, we will conduct a series of laboratory experiments which utilise online environments to explore dynamic shifts in the salience of personal and social identities. Given the rapid shifts that are possible between online identity environments (i.e. the click of a button) compared to offline identity interactions - or the fact that several online identities can be active at the same time (rather than sequentially) - we aim to use the properties (or possibilities) of online engagements to identify the key features in determining identity salience.To examine the question of identity continuity/change we will conduct a series of experiments in which participants are required to act together (to become entrained) and to do so as group members or as isolated individuals. We will then test the degree to which actions undertaken in the group are more long-lasting when performed as members of a social group or as isolated individuals. To be able to conduct these experiments in online settings, we will develop an online collaborative platform that allows participants to contribute simultaneous behaviours (in order to entrain) rather than make sequential contributions. Synchronous behaviours are largely unexplored in online worlds (as entrainment is a key feature of interactions when individuals can be co-present, but much harder in virtual or distributed interactions on the internet). The establishment of such a platform to "entrain" specific identities has not only profound implications for future online social media but also for security strategies and mechanisms to counter threats emerging from specific groups or individuals.To examine the impact of identity as a resilience agent, we will conduct a series of experiments using the cold-pressor task - a well-known psychological method for inducing physical discomfort. In the cold-pressor task participants are asked to submerge their hand, up to their wrist, into a bucket of ice water. The time (in seconds) that participants keep their hand in the water is recorded and serves as a measure of endurance/ resilience. By conducting identity manipulations in online worlds, but looking at resilience behaviour in offline worlds, we bridge the digital divide that is of particular interest in how online-engagement shapes offline action.