Computer Anxiety: Correlates, Norms and Problem Definition in Health Care and Banking Employees using the Computer Attitude Scale

Abstract Computerised systems have become an integral part of modern business practice and it has become increasingly difficult to avoid daily interaction with computerised technology. With this expansion has come the modern day malaise of ‘computer anxiety’. The paper reports normative data and correlates of computer anxiety in three separate samples ( N = 255) using the Computer Attitude Scale (Loyd and Gressard, 1984). In an effort to estimate the impact of computer anxiety in the workforce, three non-academic samples from the health and banking sector were studied. Using a clinical reference group an attempt to estimate the potential range of problematic levels of computer anxiety was made. Prior relationships between age, sex, computer experience and computer anxiety previously found in student/teacher samples were replicated in the present study. The practical implications of computer anxiety and potential interventions aimed at reducing computer anxiety are discussed.

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