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The impact of technology on the health and well-being of workers has been a topic of interest since computers and computerized technology were widely introduced in the 1980s. Of recent concern is the impact of rapid technological advances on individuals’ psychological well-being, especially due to advancements in mobile technology that have increased many workers’ accessibility and expected productivity. In this chapter we focus on the associations between occupational stress and technology, especially behavioral and psychological reactions. We discuss some key facilitators and barriers associated with users’ acceptance of and engagement with information and communication technology. We conclude with recommendations for ongoing research on managing occupational health and well-being in conjunction with technological advancements.

The declining participation of young American females in computing fields negatively impacts diversity in the computing‐related workforce. While computing in China is also dominated by men, career prospects are positively perceived by Chinese women. The purpose of this paper is to investigate both countries' female gender perceptions toward computing and two influencing psychological factors, computer anxiety and computer self‐efficacy (CSE). To better understand American females' perception toward computing, these factors are compared to those of Chinese women.

The paper tried to understand gender perception toward computing, which is believed to be one factor influencing female participation in computing. The paper examined 137 American female students and 145 Chinese female students. All students were non‐IT‐related business majors. The survey contained the following scales: gender typing scale, CSE scale, and computer anxiety rating scale. The paper used the model comparison technique in structural equation modeling to develop the proposed model demonstrating the relationship among the three psychological factors.

It is found that American females perceive that computing is for females, but Chinese females perceive that computing is for both males and females. Computer anxiety has a direct influence on gender perception toward computing for both groups. CSE, however, does not have a direct influence on gender perception toward computing for both groups. CSE also has a direct relationship with computer anxiety. The extent to which each factor influences other factors is different between both groups and this reveals interesting implications.

The authors believe that to properly encourage female participation in computing, it is important to emphasize two areas in education. In order to lower computer anxiety and increase CSE, educators need to promote basic computer skills and provide a fundamental knowledge of computers and information technologies. A more positive perception by females could be created through a stronger awareness of female roles in computing. Classroom discussions including more examples of positive female role models in computing is necessary. Female professionals need to support each other and encourage young females to pursue computing‐related education fields and careers.

There is an important need to understand the decline of American female participation in computing. Few researchers have investigated gender perception toward computing with computer anxiety and CSE. Furthermore, a model explaining the relationship of the three factors previously had not been presented. This paper not only investigated how computer anxiety and CSE influences gender perception toward computing, but also compared these results between American and Chinese females. A suggested guideline to improve gender perception of American females was developed.

An empirical study was conducted to investigate predictors of computer anxiety among undergraduate college business students. The effects of academic major, computer‐related experience, gender, and ACT scores on computer anxiety were investigated. The results indicate significant differences in computer anxiety levels among business students with different majors and with different amounts of computer‐related experience. Business students’ ACT scores were also found to have a significant relationship to computer anxiety. A significant difference between male and female business students was not found. The implications of these findings are discussed.

As the information society further develops, electronic services are created and physical distribution networks become sparse, it is important to analyse the determinants that inhibit or facilitate the ability to use these services. By focusing on the perceived behavioural control of computers, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how perceived physical restrictions, computer anxiety and ease of use influence the perceptions of control.

The authors examined older consumers (aged 60-79) in two cross-sectional studies conducted through mail surveys in 2004 and 2012. Randomized samples (n=1,000 in 2004 and n=3,000 in 2012) were drawn from the Finnish Population Register. The empirical research utilized structural equation modelling through multi-group analysis to explore the differences in the interrelationships between physical restrictions, computer anxiety, perceived ease of use and perceived behavioural control.

The results indicate that perceived behavioural control is directly influenced by ease of use and indirectly influenced by physical restrictions and computer anxiety. The eight-year time gap moderated only the relationship between physical restrictions and ease of use. Development seems to have been favourable, and device-related restrictions do not decrease ease of use as much as previously reported.

The present study starts a new discussion on how time moderates the relationship of technology perceptions in behavioural models that have been used to predict behavioural intent.

The purpose of the present paper is to review the impact of information technologies on users of libraries and to understand the problems encountered in their information technology (IT) usage by reference to the concept of “technostress”, the inability to cope with the new computer technologies in a healthy or positive manner.

A literature review was undertaken to further our understanding of the influence of IT based services on the users of libraries.

The paper provides a literature derived set of information about library users who initially find it difficult to cope with the new technology and experience anxiety (termed “IT anxiety”, “technostress” or alternatively “technophobia”). This is bound to affect their adoption of IT technologies negatively. They may eventually begin to avoid contact with computers. Since this avoidance strategy is highly impractical in the modern IT dependent world, the various causes of technostress must be analysed, so that users can be trained to overcome technophobia.

The conclusions in the present paper are based on articles from different sources and not on any field study.

Being a review article, it reflects the problems encountered by a range of users in different countries. The paper also pragmatically provides factors to be considered in designing a training module.

The paper organises information collected from different sources and presents a consolidated picture of the problems encountered by users in exploiting computers in libraries, while suggesting the means to overcome these problems.

Current stereotypes of aging consumers paint a picture of them as technology anxious and reluctant to adopt new technologies. This paper aims to show that the present 50‐to‐60 age group does not fit these stereotypes.

A total of 620 Finnish baby boomers (aged between 50 and 60) responded to a mail survey.

Baby boom consumers are shown, in contrast to the stereotypes, to have low levels of technology anxiety and high levels of experience of internet and SMS usage. It is also shown that technology anxiety and experience have an inverse relationship in the age group.

To some extent, the results provide evidence of the distortedness of current stereotypes that are used to describe 50‐plus consumers. However, data was gathered only in one country. Replications of this study in different countries would allow drawing broader conclusions.

Marketers of technological products and services are advised to let go of the outdated stereotypes, familiarize themselves with today's 50‐plus consumers and when applicable, invest effort in serving this market.

While there exists some research on aging consumers as Internet users, this study offers a more general view on aging consumers and their use of technological services by examining technology anxiety within this specific market. The results should be of value to both academicians and practitioners in realizing the potential of the mature market.

This paper makes a significant contribution to the growing field of digital inequality research by developing an operational definition of emotional costs. To examine this understudied aspect of digital inequalities, we build on Van Dijk’s concept of mental access. We define emotional costs as anxiety toward using information and communication technologies instigated by a lack of prior technology experience and limited computer access.

We examined the influence of emotional costs on lower-income students’ technology efficacy, academic efficacy, and computer application proficiency in the context of a computing intervention. Specifically, we examined the relationship between home and school computer usage with self-perceived technology efficacy, computer application proficiency, and academic efficacy. Data from surveys of 972 students were analyzed in order to better understand the importance of technology access on our outcome variables. We also investigated the possible mediation effects of emotional costs on our outcome variables.

The results revealed that home computer usage was a determinant of students’ self-perceived technology efficacy while shared school access was not. After conducting mediation tests, the results further indicated that emotional costs mediate the effects of home computer usage on technology efficacy.

We conclude that emotional costs might help explain why access inequalities lead to skill inequalities in the context of computing interventions and offer a replicable operational definition for future studies.

Past research recognizes the important influence of individual beliefs on technology acceptance and use. This line of research has also identified a variety of factors that drive the formation of these beliefs. One category of variables that has received less attention in this research stream consists of individual preferences, in particular time‐use preferences. In the current study we address the gap in the technology acceptance literature by introducing and empirically testing a new construct labeled computer polychronicity, which captures individuals’ time‐use preferences regarding information technology. A new measure of computer polychronicity is developed and subsequently tested using partial least squares estimation. Computer polychronicity is then theorized as a key driver of perceived usefulness, linking computer anxiety and computer playfulness to perceived usefulness. Overall, the results of model testing support the notion that preferences play an important role in the formation of technology‐related beliefs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceived importance of soft skills for hotel employees, their willingness to use electronic learning (e‐learning) as a training tool to improve their soft skills, and the impact of hotel employees' individual characteristics (i.e. motivation, self‐efficacy, technology anxiety) on their intentions to use e‐learning across different age groups.

The sample was randomly selected from hotel employees working at various upscale international chain hotels in South Korea. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to simultaneously measure the impact of four independent variables on the intention to use e‐learning for both younger and older learners.

The analysis revealed that responsibility, self‐esteem, sociability, and working with diverse groups were rated more important by younger hotel employees. The results suggest that learners who have higher extrinsic motivations in using e‐learning will be more likely to use e‐learning. However, the other variables (i.e. technology anxiety, self‐efficacy, and intrinsic motivation) did not significantly affect the intention to use e‐learning.

The findings are practical for hotel managers/trainers, because they can focus on external rewards instead of internal rewards to motivate employees to use e‐learning. Age did not have a moderating effect between technology anxiety and the intention to use e‐learning. Since the respondents tend to be younger and have a higher standard of education compared with those of the general population, they may more accurately represent hotel employees at upscale or international chain hotels.

The study proposes a framework to examine the impact of hotel employees' individual characteristics on their intention to use e‐learning. The study also validates some relationships that have shown inconsistent results in previous studies. Future research could employ qualitative studies to investigate underlying dimensions of the variables tested in this study.

This study offers insight on the impact of virtual team projects (VTPs) of varying types (global vs domestic teams, technology vs non-tech projects) on competency and anxiety outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paired-sample t-tests and ANOVA tests were performed on student survey responses pre- and post-engagement of different VTPs.

The results demonstrated positive effects of VTPs on intercultural sensitivity (ISS), computer self-efficacy, perceived ease of use of online learning and COVID-19 anxiety. ISS (“interaction confidence”) improved more for students in the global vs. domestic teams and technology-related outcomes (CSE, PEU and computer anxiety) and ISS (“respect for cultural differences”) improved more for students that participated in tech projects, whereas COVID-19 anxiety lessened more for those that participated in non-tech projects.

The study expands understanding of the Technology Acceptance Model and provides insight into the ISS literature showing that VTPs could be a worthwhile pedagogical approach for improving student competencies and anxiety during times of academic disruption, but that project type can influence these changes.