This is a question that many of my Introduction to Psychology students ask, so I have prepared this handout to answer it.
The
best answers to this question can be found in Dr.
Larry Rosen’s research, who is the Professor and past chair of the psychology
department at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a research
psychologist with specialties in multitasking, social networking, generational
differences, parenting, child and adolescent development, and educational
psychology, and is recognized as an international expert in the “Psychology of
Technology.” His book, Rewired:
The Psychology of Technology, discusses
how technology influences family life, education, the workplace, and every
waking moment of our lives. Larry Rosen,
Ph.D., 1991; see: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rewired-the-psychology-technology
. Dr. Rosen writes: I study the impact of technology and media on
children, teens and adults in all arenas including the home, school, the
workplace and leisure time activities. My newest book, iDisorder:
Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming its Hold on Us,
discusses how technology is making us all exhibit signs and symptoms of
psychiatric disorders such as OCD, narcissism, voyeurism, and depression. It is
full of strategies for resetting your brain and avoiding aniDisorder. My
next book is called "The Distracted Mind" and is due out in early
2016. http://drlarryrosen.com/
More about
Dr. Rosen’s book, iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and
Overcoming Its Hold on Us, March 27, 2012 by Larry
D. Rosen (http://drlarryrosen.com) iDisorder:
are changes to your brain's ability to process information and your ability to
relate to the world due to your daily use of media and technology resulting in
signs and symptoms of psychological disorders - such as stress, sleeplessness,
and a compulsive need to check in with all of your technology. Based on decades
of research and expertise in the "psychology of technology," Dr.
Larry Rosen offers clear, down-to-earth explanations for why many of us are
suffering from an "iDisorder." Rosen offers solid, proven strategies
to help us overcome the iDisorder we all feel in our lives while still making
use of all that technology offers. Our world is not going to change, and
technology will continue to penetrate society even deeper leaving us little
chance to react to the seemingly daily additions to our lives. Rosen teaches us
how to stay human in an increasingly technological world.
Below is a student paper on psychology and technology –
although it has many multiple errors and does not provide a list of references,
its substance highlights how psychology and technology are “connected.”
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY (TECHNOPHOBIA)
Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.csun.edu/~emh8437/paper2.html
(Eun Mee Hahn. This is his webpage for
ENGLISH 305 class at California State University; emh8437@csun.edu, May
2, 2002)
Technology is taking over all aspects of life. Education,
work and leisure are all becoming increasingly dependent on being able to
interact with technology. But what of the academic or career prospects of those
who do not want to interact with this technology? Before taking this English
305 class, I tried to avoid computers as much as possible. I didnt have any
interest in cyberspace such as chatting, email, and gender swapping. Through
this class, I had a chance to contact others through cyberspace. However, I
still have a fear of computers. I decided that I want to know more about
computers and cyberspace. I will first discuss cyberspace, then I will discuss
about technophobia.
Its well known that people say and do things in cyberspace
that they wouldnt ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. The virtual
world is quite different from the real world. People cant see a person in
cyberspace. People cant see a persons facial expressions and body language. The
sensory experience of encountering others in cyberspace-seeing, hearing, and
combining seeing and hearing is limited. For the most part, people communicate
through typed language. In cyberspace, people will probably never be able to
physically interact with each other. There are no handshakes, pats on the back,
hugs, or kisses.
The limited sensory experiences of cyberspace have some
significant disadvantages- as well as some unique advantages - as compared to
in-person encounters. Since communicating only with typed text, people have the
option of being themselves, expressing only parts of their identity, assuming
imaginative identities, or remaining completely anonymous. Anonymity has a
disinhibiting effect that cuts two ways. Sometimes people use it to act out
some unpleasant need or emotion, often by abusing other people. Anonymity also
allows them to be honest and open about some personal issue that they could not
discuss in a face-to-face encounter.
Sitting quiet and staring at the computer monitor can bring
a person to an altered state of consciousness. Some people experience a
blending of their mind with that of the other person. Some people experience a
state of consciousness that resembles dreams. These altered and dream-like
states of consciousness in cyberspace may account for why the Internet is so
attractive for some people. It might also help explain some forms of computer
and cyberspace addiction. In cyberspace, birds of a feather easily can flock
together. Support groups devoted to helping people with their problems can be a
very beneficial feature of cyberspace. For people with antisocial motivations,
thats a very negative feature of cyberspace.
In most cases, everyone in cyberspace has an equal
opportunity to voice his or her opinion. Everyone, regardless of status,
wealth, race, gender, etc. starts off on a level playing field. Some people
call this the net democracy. Although ones status in the outside world
ultimately will have some impact on ones life in cyberspace, there is some
truth to this net democracy ideal.
Now, I want to write about technophobia, which is a
resistance to talking about computers or even thinking about computers. Although
technology is taking over all aspects of life, there are up to half of the
population is technophobic, possessing negative opinions about, or having
anxiety towards, information technology such as personal computers. I found a
study the book, Technophobia (Mark J. Brosnan). Thirty-seven per cent of the
general public report regularly using a personal computer, a far higher
percentage than mobile phones, electronic organizers, pagers, modems, etc.
(MORI, 1996).
When the factors of anxiety and attitude, or, more
specially, of computer anxiety and computer attitude, are combined, the concept
of computer phobia indeed begins to emerge. Since I was a technophobic person,
I want to know how this psychologically impact peoples life. There was an
original assumption that technophobia would be a transitory phenomenon, common
amongst older adults who had missed out upon technology in their education.
Raubs (1981) early study reported that older people were
more anxious than younger people. Other research indicates that the over
fifties are less anxious than the under thirties, suggesting that far from
reducing anxiety, computer experience can increase anxiety levels (Brosnan pg.
11). However, Anderson (1981), Elder et al. (1987) and Igbaria and Parasuraman
(1989) have all found that age has a positive effect upon computer anxiety. As
the diffusion of technology throughout many aspects of life has exposed
virtually everyone to computerization, the relationship between anxiety, age
and experience has become less clear. The only clear relationship between age
and computer anxiety would therefore appear to be with respect to ones age when
first interacting with a computer.
I found a very interesting study, which shows the difference
of psychological impact between male and female. Just as technophobia has been
reported as affecting more females than males, computer addiction has been
found to be almost exclusively a male phenomenon (Shotton, 1989). Brosnan
(1995) identified that in a student population, male students first interaction
with computers occurred significantly earlier than female students first
interaction with computers. This is significant as Todman and Monaghan (1994)
report that early use of computers is associated with more favourable quality
of initial experience, which leads to lower anxiety and greater readiness to
use computers.
A large number of studies found that females report higher
levels of computer anxiety than males (it is maybe not true because of my
English teacher!). A smaller number of studies report no sex differences in
computer anxiety. For example, Anderson (1981) found that males and females did
not differ in their levels of anxiety, either before or after a computer
literacy course. Temple and Lips (1989) found male students to have taken more
computer science course and to be more likely to want to choose it as their
major than female students. In conclusion, the findings regarding gender
differences in technophobia have not been consistent.
Conclusion Whether we refer to the second industrial
revolution or the digital revolution there can be little doubt that computer
technology will play an ever-increasing role within our domestic, leisure and
work environments. For the technophobe, this can only mean an increase in the
potential sources of anxiety. Through this research, I could find a few things.
First, by studying technophobia the full extent of the phenomenon has become
apparent. With surveys revealing technophobia in up to 50 per cent of many
populations, feelings of computer-related anxiety cannot be dismissed or
marginalized. Indeed the sheer numbers of technophobes provide the commercial
motivation for continued user-friendliness in hardware and software design. The
huge preponderance of technophobia can in itself be empowering, such that an
individual does not have to internalize feelings to personal inadequacies.
Second, I found that much research has highlighted that feelings are transitory
and that sex differences in computer-related attainment can be eradicated when
recasting the computer-based task as appropriate for females. The literature on
sex differences has been used to emphasize the role of these influences.
Technophobia is a legitimate response to technology. Retrieved April 7, 2016,
from http://www.csun.edu/~emh8437/paper2.html
Other resources where you can find more information about
technophobia are:
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/t/technophobia/intro.htm for
more details on technophobia
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/refire-don-t-retire/201603/geriatric-technophobia
on geriatric technophobia
Prepared by Mary
R. Noble, PhD
April 7, 2016
