Computer anxiety at a graduate computer center: computer factors, support, and situational pressures
Some people are comfortable using computers. For others, the encounter with the computer is emotionally unsettling, interrupts work flow, and decreases productivity (Landauer, T.K., 1995, The trouble with computers: usefulness, usability, and productivity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press). Computer anxiety (CA) research has paid little attention to the role that computer qualities, social networks, and information-support play in relation to people's fear or avoidance of the computer. The author's review of the CA research suggested that we can further our understanding of CA by expanding our conceptual framework beyond the individual to include variables such as system quality, computer training, and technical support. This exploratory-grounded study of graduate students revealed new issues implicated in CA that can be described using three additional levels of analysis: (1) the situation; (2) the computer; and (3) the information-support. Time and goal pressures aggravated CA at the level of the situation. At the level of the computer two problematic attributes aggravated CA: unreliability and poorly depicted filing processes. At the level of information-support graduate students took pro-active strategies to reduce their CA. However, being aware that information-support had both the potential to improve the situation or make matters worse, they were careful to avoid information-support that used computer jargon and to call on patient and understanding computer friends for help.
computer anxiety computer center information-support unreliability time pressure computerphobia