Introduction
The revolution in computer technology continues to play an ever-increasing role in today's culture, affecting individuals of all ages from the pre-kindegarten child to adults over 60. Computer technology has progressed from the scientific area where it first made its impact to the present and to its appearance in all areas of business, education and society. So widespread has been its influence that in 1983, the editors of Time deviated from their normal routine of designating a person as "man of the year" giving the honor instead to the computer as having the greatest impact on the world:
There are some occasions, though, when the most significant force in a year's news is not a single individual but a process, and a widespread recognition by a whole society that this process is changing the course of all other processes. That is why, after weighing the ebb and flow of events around the world, TIME has decided that 1982 is the year of the computer. It would have been possible to single out as Man of the Year one of the engineers or entrepreneurs who masterminded this technological revolution, but no one person has clearly dominated those turbulent events. More important, such a selection would obscure the main point. TIME's Man of the Year for 1982, the greatest influence for good or evil, is not a man at all. It is a machine: the computer. (Friedrich, 1983, p. 3)
The computer and its widespread influence have placed demands on everyone to become current with its technology. This has led to stresses and anxiety for many, prompting research into the phenomenon of Computer anxiety.
Researchers define computer anxiety as the psychological state of individuals who have negative reactions towards using computers. It is also described as the fear of impending interaction with a computer that is disproportionate to the actual threat presented by the computer. The phenomenon of computer anxiety includes an apprehension of danger, a sense of dread and failure. The computer user fears becoming too dependent on technology, losing control of, or being replaced by the computer. The computer anxious is afraid that "pushing the wrong button" will somehow cause the computer to blow up or self-destruct, affecting the user's performance in the job or educational setting. Stress, embarrassment, frustration, irritation, panic and the fear of exposing one's ignorance are all part of the feelings associated with computer anxiety. The mind of the computerphobic is in chaos and has difficulty concentrating and even separating thoughts. Add to this the pressures of an authority figure, either job-related or school-related, and there is a complete breakdown of any input learning - a sort of "paralysis of the mind," leading to symptoms of stress or to the easiest way out - avoidance of the "dreaded object." In the state of stress, the autonomic nervous system awakens a wide range of symptoms: glazed eyes, clammy hands, increased heart rate, sick stomach, posture rigidity, tightness in the throat, crying, desperation and anger with such declarations as, "Everyone knows this but me!" or "I hate computers/IBM/MAC!"
Although much of the research treats the problem of negative anxiety, "It is said that under certain circumstances anxiety may facilitate performance" (Schwarzer, 1986, p. 7). For students of high ability, it is possible that some anxiety can improve performance, but this would depend on the whole motivational process and how variables interact with each other. Such variables as prior experience, self-concept, outcome expectations, or difficulty of task at hand interact with each other and contribute to the development of the anxiety state. The individual's own expectations or perception of the task, ability, possible successful outcome, together with prior successes or failures all influence the degree of anxiety experienced. Moreover, the same level of anxiety may have very different outcomes for different individuals. One may consider the particular level of anxiety as a challenge or catalyst towards resolving a problem and another may experience total helplessness and loss of control over the task at hand. For individuals of low academic ability, there is a more negative relationship between high anxiety and performance outcome. Since most learning occurs in the presence of others, the anxious individual's poor self-concept is further exacerbated by what is imagined to be the expectation of others in the learning experience. Referring to studies by Cox and Stevenson, Gaudry notes that in fact, "the presence of other people (parents, teachers, peers) does have effects on performance in simple tasks and that such effects depend on the anxiety level of the child" (Gaudry, 1971, p. 5).
Studies in the area of computer anxiety have produced a variety of labels for the phenomenon and for those affected by it. CA is known as computerphobia, technophobia, cyberphobia, technostress or computer resistance. The individual who experiences CA is known as a technophobe, computerphobe and considered to be (perhaps unkindly) computer illiterate. Technophobia exists in different forms, exhibiting a multitude of symptoms:
This inward bombardment of negative messages in turn opens the door for a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure and leads to the entrenchment of full-blown computer anxiety.
However, computer anxiety by any other name is still anxiety related to a fear of computer technology and becomes a problem to varying degrees in this day of an increasingly computerized society.