Computer fear and anxiety in the United States Army

Abstract

The fear of technology, particularly computers, appears to be widespread. this thesis defines computer fear and anxiety, its consequences, and provides recommendations to reduce its impact. Further, it attempts to quantify the extent of computer fear and anxiety in the U. S. Army. Finding 1: As some soldiers increase their interaction with computers through training and experience their level of computer fear, anxiety and apprehension also increases, at least for the short term. Finding 2: The extent of computer anxiety in the U.S. Army is as high as 11% for computer specialists and as high as 18% for "end-users." The extent of severe computer anxiety is approximately 4.5% for both computer specialists and "end-users". Finding 3: There is not a set of characteristics that can be used to draw a profile of a compute anxious individual. Observation/hypothesis: Computer anxiety may be understood as a cycle, termed the Computer Anxious Cycle. The cycle involves four stages: ignorance is bliss, computer shock, rising anxiety, and relief. This hypothesis requires additional research.