Name and Contact Information of Researchers:
Prof. Dr. Robert Lehmann, Medical School Berlin, Department of Psychology
Email: robert.lehmann@medicalschool-berlin.de
Prof. Dr. Kelly Babchishin, Carleton University, Department of Psychology
Email: kelly.babchishin@carleton.ca
Prof. Dr. Alexander Schmidt, University of Mainz, Department of Psychology
Email: alexander.schmidt@uni-mainz.de

Project Title
An Examination of Unconventional Behaviours (on the Internet).

Carleton University Project Clearance
Clearance #: 120227 Date of Clearance: 12-19-2023

Invitation: 
This survey is being conducted by Prof. Dr. Robert Lehmann (robert.lehmann@medicalschoolberlin.de) of the Medical School Berlin Department of Psychology, Prof. Dr. Kelly Babchishin (kelly.babchishin@carleton.ca) of the Carleton University Department of Psychology, and Prof. Dr. Alexander Schmidt (alexander.schmidt@uni-mainz.de) of the University of Mainz Department of Psychology.

This form explains the research to help you decide whether you want to do the study. It explains the goals of this study, and what it involves, lists things that might cause you problems as a result of doing the study, and gives resources you can contact if you have any questions or concerns about this study. Your participation in this study is voluntary.

Objectives and Summary:

• The purpose of this 15-20-minute survey is to learn more about psychological and situational factors which may encourage or discourage unconventional behaviour, on the Internet and in the “real world”.
• To participate in this study, you will need to be at least 18 years of age, be able to read English.
• We expect to survey a total of 1200 people.
• Your answers will be completely anonymous (that is, not tied to you in any way). No information that could be used to identify you will be connected with your survey responses.
• You will be asked to answer a series of questions about yourself, your childhood, including past abuse experience, and your current situation. Several questions concern attitudes and behaviours that are unconventional or considered repulsive in our society, such as interest in bestiality, children, and rough sex.
• At the end of the survey, you will be shown a series of pictures showing people of different ages – including children – in swimwear. Your task will be to evaluate how sexually attractive these people are to you.
• At the end of the survey, you can indicate if you would like to be entered into a prize draw for a 1 in 50 chance to win an Amazon gift card worth $25 US. To do this, you can voluntarily enter your email address on a new survey link, which will be stored separately from your responses in the survey, so that your responses cannot be linked to you.

Withdrawing from the study:

• Your participation in this survey is voluntary and you may choose not to take part – an option to withdraw will be included at the bottom of each page.
• The questions asked may be embarrassing or offensive because of the topics covered. You are free to stop the survey at any time.
• You cannot withdraw after you complete the survey. The survey is anonymous so we will have no way to identify your data.

Risks:
We want to learn about factors that encourage or discourage unconventional behaviour. As such, you may find some of the questions to be of a sensitive nature and they may cause you distress or embarrassment if disclosed. If you do feel distressed from answering any of these questions, we invite you to contact a crisis line near you:

• Find a helpline: Free, confidential support from a helpline or hotline near you. Online chat, text or phone: https://findahelpline.com/

Confidentiality and Data Storage:

• We will treat your personal information as confidential.
• We are not collecting IP addresses. The researchers will not be able to link your answers to your identity and we will not know who said what. All responses are kept in a secure survey owned by the researchers (not by a third party, or on the Internet).
• No information that discloses your identity will be released or published. Research records may be accessed by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board to ensure continuing ethics compliance.
• The results of this study may be published, but the data will be presented so that it will not be possible to identify you.
• All research data will be password-protected, in a locked office at Carleton University.
• After the study is completed, we will retain your anonymized data.
• You cannot withdraw after the survey is completed.

REB Review and Contact Information:
This project was reviewed and cleared by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board. If you have any ethical concerns with the study, please contact the Carleton University Research Ethics Board by phone at 001-613-520-2600 ext. 4085 or by email at ethics@carleton.ca.