Article Version of Record

More than defense in daily experience of privacy: The functions of privacy in digital and physical environments

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Lombardi, Debora Benedetta
Ciceri, Maria Rita

Abstract / Description

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the experience of privacy, focusing on its functional role in personal well-being. A sample (N = 180) comprised subjects between 18 and 50 years of age were asked to spontaneously provide accounts of their experiences with privacy and answer close-ended questions to acquire a description of a daily experience of privacy. The results showed the importance attributed to the function of privacy related to the “defense from social threats”, and the twofold function of privacy related to an “achieved state of privacy”, in the terms of both “system maintenance” and “system development”. The results also shed light on the role of the environment in shaping one’s experience of privacy. Specifically, the participants recognized more easily the function of defense from threats related to seeking privacy while interacting in digital environments, whereas they seemed to benefit from positive functions related to an achieved state of privacy in physical environments. The findings sustain the notion of privacy as a supportive condition for some psychological processes involved in the positive human functioning and confirm previous studies conducted on the role of privacy in human well-being.

Keyword(s)

privacy positive experience functions for well-being person-environment interaction

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2016-02-29

Journal title

Europe's Journal of Psychology

Volume

12

Issue

1

Page numbers

115–136

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Lombardi, D. B., & Ciceri, M. R. (2016). More than defense in daily experience of privacy: The functions of privacy in digital and physical environments. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 115–136. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i1.948
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Lombardi, Debora Benedetta
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Ciceri, Maria Rita
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-21T09:59:38Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-21T09:59:38Z
  • Date of first publication
    2016-02-29
  • Abstract / Description
    The purpose of the current study was to investigate the experience of privacy, focusing on its functional role in personal well-being. A sample (N = 180) comprised subjects between 18 and 50 years of age were asked to spontaneously provide accounts of their experiences with privacy and answer close-ended questions to acquire a description of a daily experience of privacy. The results showed the importance attributed to the function of privacy related to the “defense from social threats”, and the twofold function of privacy related to an “achieved state of privacy”, in the terms of both “system maintenance” and “system development”. The results also shed light on the role of the environment in shaping one’s experience of privacy. Specifically, the participants recognized more easily the function of defense from threats related to seeking privacy while interacting in digital environments, whereas they seemed to benefit from positive functions related to an achieved state of privacy in physical environments. The findings sustain the notion of privacy as a supportive condition for some psychological processes involved in the positive human functioning and confirm previous studies conducted on the role of privacy in human well-being.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Lombardi, D. B., & Ciceri, M. R. (2016). More than defense in daily experience of privacy: The functions of privacy in digital and physical environments. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 115–136. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i1.948
  • ISSN
    1841-0413
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/993
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1185
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i1.948
  • Keyword(s)
    privacy
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    positive experience
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    functions for well-being
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    person-environment interaction
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    More than defense in daily experience of privacy: The functions of privacy in digital and physical environments
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Europe's Journal of Psychology
  • Page numbers
    115–136
  • Volume
    12
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record