1 Introduction

Ray & Minch 1990 discuss the relationship between computer alienation and anxiety. They follow Seeman's concept of alienation assuming that it consists of:

1. Powerlessness - a sense of lack of control
2. Normlessness - "high expectancy that socially unapproved behaviours are required to achieve given goals" (Seeman 1959 p788 quoted in Ray & Minch)
3. Meaninglessness - incomprehensibility of personal and socialaffairs
4. Social isolation - a sense of exclusion or rejection
5. Self-estrangement - engagement in activities that are not intrinsically rewarding
6. Cultural estrangement - an individual's rejection of commonly held values in a society

Various relationships exist between computer anxiety and computer alienation scores see Ray & Minch for details. One important relationship is the hands-on aspect of both. "Minch and Ray found that computer alienation consists of two factors: a personal hands on relationship with computers and a more impersonal, indirect relationship. Howard and Smith (1986) stated that the only way to lessen computer anxiety is to apply an involved hands-on education or training program to the problem." [from Ray & Minch1990]

The original computer alienation score found in Ray & Minch Appendix 1 is given below along with a derived 14 item score based upon factor analysis. The 14 items are in italic in the questionnaire below. To score the 14 item scale follow the same instructions as for the others given below.

2 References

Howard G S, Murphy C M, Thomas G E. 1986 Computer anxiety considerations for design of introductory computer courses. In Proceedings of the 1986 Annual meeting of the decision support sciences institute, pp. 630 - 632 Atlanta, GA: Decision support sciences Institute.

Nina M Ray, Robert P Minch 1990 Computer anxiety and alienation: towards a definition and parsimonious measure. Human factors 32 (4) 477 - 491

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E-mail: robin@organplayers.co.uk or telephone 0191 2731150
End of document Last updated: 21/12/2007 16:02