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Filippo La Paglia*, Barbara Caci**, and Daniele La Barbera*
Department of Neuroscience *, Department of Psychology **
University of Palermo
TECHNOSTRESS
A Research about Computer Self-Efficacy,
Internet Attitudes
and Computer Anxiety
CYBERTHERAPY13 –June 2008
San Diego, California, USA
The focus of the research
Technostress
An emergent psychological disorder
experienced by individuals when they interact
with technologies
(Brod, 1984)
Techno-stressed people




Negative attitudes
Negative thoughts
Negative feelings toward
technologies
Physical and psychological
symptoms when they
manage directly or
indirectly hi-tech
products.
Weil and Rosen (1995)
Technostress
or
Computer-anxiety?
Technostress is also labelled as computer-anxiety or
computer-phobia.
A sort of aversion, fear,
apprehension,
hostility
or
resistance toward computers

Computeranxiety
A negative emotional that a
person
experienced
when
he/she is using a computer.

It is more similar to a state than a trait anxiety.
(Cambre e Cook, 1987; Chua, Chen, e Wong, 1999).
Computer-anxiety as a
multidimensional construct
Six-Factors Model of Beckers and Schmidt (2001)
Some questions
What are the causal inter-relationships between the
psychological variables that influenced computeranxiety?
Computer-anxiety
is an antecedent of
negative attitudes toward technologies or of low
computer-self-efficacy levels?

Thatcher and Perrewè (2002)
Computer-anxiety
is a consequence of low
computer-self-efficacy levels?

Marakas, Johnson, and Palmer (2000)
The rationale of the research
Computer-anxiety is a kind of state
anxiety, which is influenced more by
cognitive variables as negative selfefficacy believes or internet attitudes
than by low computer-expertise.
The purpose of the
research
Analyzing in a population of Italian teachers
the causal relationships of computer-anxiety among with:
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Computer-expertise
Computer self-efficacy
Internet attitudes
H1: Low levels of computer self-efficacy and
Internet attitude would predict high levels of
computer-anxiety.
Methods
Participants
77 teachers (29M; 48F), aged between 28 and 61 years old (mean age
43yr; SD= 9), were random selected from different Primary Schools
of Palermo.
Measures
– Computer-Expertise Questionnaire (Chifari, Ottaviano, D’Amico,
& Cardaci, 2000).
– Computer Self-efficacy Scale (Chifari, Ottaviano, D’Amico, &
Cardaci, 2000; Eachus & Cassidy Scale, 1997)
–
Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (Weil & Rosen, 1995)
– Internet Attitude Scale (Sam, Othman & Nordin, 2005).
Results
Participants scored
lower on:
Computer-Expertise
(mean score=2.5)
Computer-Anxiety
(mean score=2.4)
Participants scored
higher on:
Computer Self-Efficacy
(mean score=4.4)
Internet Attitudes
(mean score=3.9).
Italian teachers exhibit moderate levels of computer-expertise, but
perceive themselves as highly efficiency in computer usage.
Moreover, they reveal positive attitudes toward the Internet and
low levels of computer-anxiety.
Results –
Correlation analysis (Pearson’ s r)
1
Computer- Expertise (1)
2
3
4
―
Computer Self-efficacy (2)
.453*
―
Internet Attitude (3)
.408*
.360*
―
Computer Anxiety (4)
-.525*
-.641*
-.554*
Note - * Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
―
Results:
Regression analysis
Independent
Variables
B
DS B
β
Computer-Expertise
.147
.025
.005
Computer Self-efficacy
-.370*
.046
-.81
Internet Attitude
-.231
.078
-.025
R= .81; R2= .69; F(3,73) = 54.48; p<.0001.
Low scores on Computer-Self-efficacy scale (β=-.046;
p<.01) significantly predict Computer-anxiety.
Scores on Computer-Expertise Scale and Internet Attitude
Scale doesn’t predict significantly Computer-anxiety
scores.
Conclusion

Computer-anxiety depends more on psychological
competences of efficacy towards technologies than
on effective technological skills in computer usage.

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Computer-self efficacy beliefs to be able of managing
technologies satisfactory as well as to fell confident
toward tham are responsible for the reduction of
computer-anxiety individuals’ levels.
Attitudes towards the Internet seem not influence
an individuals’ computer-anxiety levels.
In order to prevent the emergence of
individuals’ computer-anxiety …

Computer-anxiety
de-sensitizing
treatments could be oriented:
psychological
– not to enlarge individuals’ cold technological notions or their
expertise toward computer
– but to step up individuals’ self-confidence beliefs to manage
such peculiar technologies as computers and the Internet.

Training programs about technologies that involve
mainly teachers should be based on the improvement
of individuals’ trusts and self-efficacy beliefs toward
technologies more than on the improvement of mere
technological skills.
Thanks for your attention!
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Neuroscience Department,
University of Palermo