Affective Responses to Technology Use: Examining the Dark Side, Exploring the Bright Side

The study of individual, affect-related consequences from technology adoption and use is gaining traction in the information systems (IS) discipline. Efforts to explore affective reactions to technology have considered various positive, affective constructs (e.g., enjoyment, computer playfulness, and flow), with a more recent focus on the dark side of technology use and constructs such as technostress, technophobia, and computer anxiety. While some research has examined these negative affective responses to technology, construct definitions and relationships are not well-defined or theoretically grounded. A recent theoretical advance in IS, the Affective Response Model (ARM) categorizes affective responses to technology based on five dimensions. This three-paper dissertation explores negative affective responses to technology by (1) synthesizing the IS literature through the application of ARM, (2) proposing new affective concepts, and (3) theorizing about and testing the relationships between relevant antecedents and outcomes of these affective responses. In paper one, an integrative literature review is conducted on computer anxiety, technophobia and technostress, the main negative affective concepts in the IS literature. The known antecedents, dimensions, and outcomes of each concept are organized into nomological networks. These nomological networks are then combined to identify inconsistencies and omissions in the literature. Further, the ARM taxonomy is applied to differentiate the three constructs and to introduce technology-induced state anxiety (TISA), a new temporal (state-like) negative response to a specific instance of technology. Two empirical studies are conducted using existing and newly developed scales, and demonstrate that computer anxiety, technophobia, technostress and TISA are conceptually and empirically distinct, laying a foundation for further exploration of how these constructs are related. In paper two, much of the integrated nomological network from paper one is tested in the context of a laboratory experiment with a spreadsheet application. The relationship between computer anxiety, technostress and TISA is explored in more depth with the mediating influence of technostress on TISA proposed and confirmed. ARM is further extended in two ways (1) by demonstrating the impact of the characteristics of the task/organizational context, a new category of antecedents identified from paper one, and (2) connecting affective responses to computing performance outcomes (e.g. satisfaction with performance, expected future performance, and an objective measure of task accuracy). Finally, this paper concludes by evaluating how the relationship between antecedents, affective responses and performance outcomes may change with system experience. The laboratory experiment is repeated after six weeks of regular system usage to test whether the strong influence of TISA observed at time 1 diminishes as expected. In paper 3, the research model from paper 2 is expanded by integrating positive affective concepts. It is known that positive and negative concepts are distinct and individuals can experience high levels of both positive and negative affect at the same time. Therefore, ARM is further extended by demonstrating the practical and theoretical importance of considering both positive and negative affective responses. This paper explores the domain of a less structured creative task, employing a laboratory experiment in which participants design a flyer. Computer anxiety, technostress and TISA are measured alongside enjoyment, and two newly proposed concepts, technomancy and computer enthusiasm. The unique impact of these positive and negative affective responses on performance outcomes is demonstrated. Lastly, the intervention effect of a positive mood is evaluated experimentally. Participants in a positive mood prior to working on the design task experienced more enjoyment. Those assigned a more difficult task and a less usable technology also experienced less TISA due to being in positive mood state. Positive mood also had a helpful indirect effect on performance outcomes. The findings from the three dissertation papers have important theoretical and practical implications. A major IS theoretical framework is meaningfully applied to negative affective concepts and extended. Second, this work offers more detailed explanation of what antecedents influence certain affective concepts more, building on the omnibus and reciprocal propositions in ARM. Third, this work formally connects affective responses to computing performance outcomes. Lastly, the added benefit of considering positive concepts side-by-side with negative concepts is demonstrated. Focusing on the dark side alone is both theoretically incomplete and practically misleading. There are also important implications for practitioners. It is shown that minimizing TISA is especially critical in the early stages of using a system, as TISA is the affective concept driving performance outcomes the most at that time. This idea holds true for both structured computing tasks and less structured, creative tasks. Also, establishing a positive mood prior to engaging with the system heightens the enjoyment experienced and reduces TISA under very challenging situations, for instance when the technology is less usable and task requirements are high. This finding confirms that a positive mood can be a positive balancing force to negative affect, indirectly preserving performance outcomes. Finally, the concluding chapter of this dissertation discusses several future research directions that build on this work

Ranteesta mitattavat tunteet tietokoneen ja ihmisen vuorovaikutuksessa

The role of emotion in human-computer interaction (HCI) has seen an increase in interest during the last decades. Technological advancements have made studying them much more viable for example because of the availability of affordable and accurate wrist-based sensors. However, this subfield of HCI still lacks theory and it has many unsolved engineering problems, especially considering naturalistic and automated emotion recognition. This thesis provides an overview of wrist- based emotion recognition in human-computer interaction by tying in the views and theoretical background of emotion from philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and economics. The thesis also includes an experimental set-up in naturalistic settings. The experiment uses an Empatica E4 device that can be worn on the wrist and which can be used to measure electrodermal activity (EDA) and heartrate variability (HRV). Both EDA and HRV are known biomarkers for various emotional reactions, such as emotional arousal or mental stress. The study explores the possibilities of EDA and HRV to measure emotional arousal and valence. Furthermore, the correlations between psychological surveys and emotional biosignal markers are explored. We used the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) -survey, which measures the intensity of experienced and shown emotion, and Rational- Experiential Inventory (REI) -survey, which measures an individual preferred style of information processing. Five custom experiments and a data analysis method with custom analyzer code were designed for this thesis. Our findings suggest that EDA is a good marker for arousal, but that HRV is a problematic measure. Furthermore, we found evidence that there would be correlations between psychological traits and biosignals. However, there were limitations within our experiments. In conclusions, we provide suggestions for futher research and a new theoretical framework that could be used to understand emotions better in HCI.Kiinnostus tunteiden merkityksestä ihmisen ja tietokoneen vuorovaikutuksessa on kasvanut. Teknologian kehityksen myötä tunteisiin liittyviä biosignaaleja voidaan mitata hyvinkin huomaamattomasti esimerkiksi rannetietokoneilla. Alan teoria on kuitenkin vähäistä ja erityisesti naturalistiseen ja automatisoituun tunteiden tunnistamiseen liittyy monia ratkaisemattomia teknologisia ongelmia. Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on tarjota lukijalleen kattava teoreettinen näkemys monilta tieteen aloilta, jotka tutkivat tunteita. Työ yhdistää tunteisiin liittyvää teoriaa filosofiasta, psykologiasta, neurotieteestä sekä ihmistietokonevuorovaikutuksen tutkimuksesta rakentaakseen yhtenäisen teoreettisen viitekehyksen ongelman ymmärtämiseksi. Työhön kuuluu myös kokeellinen osuus, jossa mitataan tunteita oikeassa ympäristössä. Kokeessa käytetään Empatica E4-rannetietokonetta, jolla voidaan mitata ihon sähkönjohtavuutta (EDA) ja sydämen sykevälivaihtelua (HRV). Sekä EDA että HRV ovat molemmat tunnettuja biosignaaleja erilaisissa tunnetiloissa. Kokeen tarkoitus on tutkia EDA:n ja HRV:n kykyä mitata tunteellista virittäytyneisyyttä ja tunnearvoa. Tämän lisäksi koe tutkii erilaisten psykologisten kyselylomakkeiden korrelaatioita mitattujen biosignaalejen välillä. Kokeessa käytetään Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) -kyselykaavaketta, joka mittaa koettujen ja näytettyjen tunteiden vahvuutta, sekä Rational Experiential Inventory (REI) -kyselykaavaketta, joka mittaa yksilön suosimaa sisäisen tiedonkäsittelyn menetelmää. Koetta varten kehitettiin viisi koeasetelmaa ja metodi, jolla voitiin analysoida mitattua dataa. Tulokset vahvistavat käsityksen, että EDA on hyvä virittäytyneisyyden mittari, mutta HRV:n käytössä löydettiin vain ongelmia. Tuloksissa on myös todisteita psykologisten luonteenpiirteiden ja biosignaalien korrelaatiolle. Lopussa annamme suosituksia seuraaville tutkimuksille ja esittelemme kehittämämme uuden teoreettisen viitekehyksen, jolla tunteita voisi ymmärtää paremmin ihmisen ja tietokoneen vuorovaikutuksessa

About the nature of Kansei information, from abstract to concrete

Designer’s expertise refers to the scientific fields of emotional design and kansei information. This paper aims to answer to a scientific major issue which is, how to formalize designer’s knowledge, rules, skills into kansei information systems. Kansei can be considered as a psycho-physiologic, perceptive, cognitive and affective process through a particular experience. Kansei oriented methods include various approaches which deal with semantics and emotions, and show the correlation with some design properties. Kansei words may include semantic, sensory, emotional descriptors, and also objects names and product attributes. Kansei levels of information can be seen on an axis going from abstract to concrete dimensions. Sociological value is the most abstract information positioned on this axis. Previous studies demonstrate the values the people aspire to drive their emotional reactions in front of particular semantics. This means that the value dimension should be considered in kansei studies. Through a chain of value-function-product attributes it is possible to enrich design generation and design evaluation processes. This paper describes some knowledge structures and formalisms we established according to this chain, which can be further used for implementing computer aided design tools dedicated to early design. These structures open to new formalisms which enable to integrate design information in a non-hierarchical way. The foreseen algorithmic implementation may be based on the association of ontologies and bag-of-words.AN

Research Publication 2011

Research Publication of Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences provides a window into our operations from the point of view of research activities. Through this collection of articles split into different themes we present our projects and the university’s multi-disciplined knowledge and expertise of the staff

The Influence of Psychographic Beliefs on Website Usability Requirements

Designing websites that are responsive to customer needs is a critical prerequisite for the success of online services. To date, much research has focused on understanding which design requirements can be successfully applied to a website’s design. However, there has been limited research examining why some requirements may have more or less importance to customers. In addition to demographic characteristics, we propose that psychographic characteristics influence usability-related requirements. To develop our research model and hypotheses, we draw from usability literature and research in consumer behavior concerned with customers’ prevailing beliefs about technology. Conceptualizing customer beliefs should not only help distinguish between positive and negative processes but also help further investigate their consequences. To explore the relationship between customer characteristics (i.e., gender and technology beliefs) and usability requirements, we use a usability procedure based on the Microsoft Usability Guidelines (MUG). MUG identifies multiple design requirements that are expected to increase the usability of sites. We present the results of our study involving 215 participants. Overall, our results suggest that negative beliefs may play a larger role in influencing usability requirements than positive beliefs. And, the results suggest that prior Web experience moderates the relationship between beliefs and requirements

The Pathology of Relational Aesthetics and the Anomaly of Adaptive Behavior of Transformation in Nuruddin Farah’s Crossbones (2011)

The postmodernist material cause of the schema of Crossbones implies an innovative method and a meta-cognition realm within postcolonial system of proposition and metadata, involves a new approach of intellection in the perspective relational values and relational frame theory stand as a dimensionality of understanding and a generative and transformative reality. Through an object program and a normative functionalism, Farah installs a psycho-functionalist perspective in the run to transcend the realm of ethnocentrism and relegio-politico social theory concerning the domain of formal conception and perception of relationalism. This persistence relates to an alternative understanding, a modality and property differentiation concerning the relational aesthetic and the status quo of the Be-ing, and a transformative reform about human intellect prerequisites and requests. in this dynamic of social practice and evidence-based practice, the relational aesthetic theory within Farah evolves his docufiction, define a method of linguistic performance and a relational expression that focuses on a conceivable representation of truth and experience

ARTIFICIAL AGENTS MODELING FOR INTIMATE TELEPRESENCE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH