Three Essays on the Effects of Appraisal, Cultural, Emotional, and Cognitive Factors on Information Technologies Acceptance and Use

In essay 1, we propose a model, which utilized Lazarus and Folkman’s Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Emotion or Appraisal Theory (1984, 1987) as a structural foundation to lay out the nomological relationships among a person’s personal, cognitive, and emotional factors in predicting technology use behaviors. Emotion, likes many social and psychological factors, is challenging to give a full-consensus definition, and has been treated as a polar counterpart of cognition. Lazarus and Folkman’s Appraisal Theory suggested that when a person is facing a (disruptive) event, he or she appraises the possible outcomes (we suppose that appraising is a form of cognitive process), and based on the appraisal and along with other cognitive responses, together they influence his or her emotions. Both cognitive and emotional responses impact his or her behavioral intentions and behaviors. Derived from Appraisal Theory, various emotion theories and models, and TAM, we built a research model, which would provide and prove and the interplayed relationships among external, cognitive, and emotional variables. This study tested our research model in the context of four different technologies (Microsoft Access, iPad, SAP, and smartphone). The findings will provide substantial evidence of the imperative impact of emotions on technology use research and practices. In essay 2, built on the previous research model and supported by the theoretical background from essay 1, we would like to see how culture impacts on this model. Research has shown that people from different cultures do not think or behave alike. A person’s behavioral intentions and behaviors are often derived from his/her belief system. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) stated that “beliefs are personally formed or culturally shared cognitive configurations” (p. 63). They implied that the differences in culture may cause the variances while using a behavioral model (e.g. TAM) to predict or explain behaviors. In Lazarus and Folkman’s Appraisal Theory (1984, 1987), they regarded that beliefs determine what fact is, that is, “how things are” in the environment, and how they shape the understanding of its meaning” (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984, p. 63). In other words, they believed that culture and personal factors shape a person’s understanding of his/her surrounding environment. Bem (1970) distinguishes two levels of beliefs, primitive and higher-order. Primitive beliefs reside in a subconscious state within a person; when those beliefs are needed, they will emerge under specific circumstances. “Higher-order beliefs are learned” (Lazarus and Folkman 1984, p. 64) from experiences and over time become personal primitive beliefs. Often beliefs are operating underneath a person’s explicit awareness; nevertheless, beliefs could shape a person’s perceptions. We added cultural constructs to the proposed model, which were derived from Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity), to examine the effect of cross cultural differences. In addition, the added constructs should demonstrate notable influences on a person’s cognition and emotion, and ultimately his/her technology use. In essay 3, uncertainty adversely impels one’s logical judgments, decisions, and behaviors (Baker, Bloom, Davis, 2015: Bloom, 2009; Denis and Kannan, 2013). Straube, Mentzel, and Miltner (2007) described anticipatory anxiety using “waiting for spiders” as a metaphor. Anticipatory anxiety was described that humans will estimate a possible future threat, danger, or other upcoming potentially negative events, which cause him/her anxiety (Barlow, 2000; Barlow, Chorpita, and Turovsky, 1996; Behnke and Sawyer, 2000). Research in user technology acceptance and use should not ignore uncertainty’s impact on a person’s perception and behaviors. The present study is aimed at investigating how users would feel along with what they would think, and how they would act, given an ambiguous event when the office workers are given a new technology or information system to use in their workplace. We also explore another factor, anticipatory anxiety, which is induced by uncertainty. Together, we believe that uncertainty factors and anticipatory anxiety factor would be the antecedents on user’s behavioral intention. The contribution of this study will shed light on discovering and solving knowledge in a user’s predicament in using new enterprise software, and thus enhance a better understanding for professionals when implementing it

A portable traveler\u27s weblog

This project is a web based application tha provides a friendly and simple interface to let users easily record and modify their travel experiences anytime or anywhere

USING THE MINNESOTA FARM RECORDS DATA BASE: 1977-82 DATA

Farm Management,

Evolution of Interferon-Based Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C

Since 1986, interferon-alfa (IFN-α) monotherapy has been administered for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). However, sustained response rate is only about 8% to 9%. Subsequent introduction of ribavirin in combination with IFN-α was a major breakthrough in the treatment of CHC. Sustained virological responses (SVRs) rate is about 30% in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1) patients, and is about 65% in HCV-2 or -3 patients. After 2000, pegylated interferon (PegIFN) much improved the rates of SVR. Presently, PegIFN-α-ribavirin combination therapy has been current standard of care for patients infected with HCV. In patients with HCV-1, treatment for 48 weeks is optimal, but 24 weeks of treatment is sufficient in HCV-2 or -3 infected patients. Clinical factors have been identified as predictors for the efficacy of the IFN-based therapy. The baseline factor most strongly predictive of an SVR is the presence of HCV-2 or -3 infections. Rapid virological response (RVR) is the single best predictor of an SVR to PegIFN-ribavirin therapy. If patients can't achieve a RVR but achieve a complete early virological response (cEVR), treatment with current standard of care can provide more than 90% SVR rate. HCV-1 patients who do not achieve an EVR should discontinue the therapy. Recent advances of protease inhibitor may contribute the development of a novel triple combination therapy

THE CHARTERISTICS OF LOWER LIMB MOMENTS IN BASEBALL PITCHING

The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of lower limb moments in baseball pitching. Ten senior high school pitchers participated in this study (age: 16.7±0.7 yr; height: 179.1±5.8 cm; body mass: 73.7±8.9 kg). Ten VICON cameras (200Hz) and two Kistler force plates (1000Hz) fixed on a pitching mound were used to collect 3-D kinematic and GRF data. Three successful trials for each subject were used to compute lower limbs joint moments. The results indicated, for the pivot leg, ankle plantarflexor moment, knee and hip adductor moment are the key moments to transform energy to trunk and upper extremities by driving and rotating the knee. For the lead leg, ankle plantarflexor moment and hip flexor moment are the main joint moments to brake upper extremities by a knee extention during baseball pitching

Electronic Commerce Research Profiles: Comparing E-Commerce and Information Systems Journals

The rapid diffusion of information and mobile technologies has revolutionized the way we do business and how we conduct our daily lives. Electronic commerce (e-commerce or EC) has had an enormous impact on business practices and has become a new area of study for researchers in related fields. Thousands of papers on this subject have been published in the past two decades, most of which have been published in e-commerce (EC) journals. However, many such papers have been published in information systems (IS) journals. Information systems have become the core discipline that drives e-commerce research. The purpose of this research is to report on the profiles of e-commerce papers published in major EC and IS journals, and to determine whether papers that have appeared in EC journals differ from those published in IS journals. We surveyed EC papers published in ten major journals and conducted a bibliometric analysis. Our findings indicate that (1) more EC papers are published in EC journals, but papers published in IS journals are cited more often; (2) collectively, authors in the U.S. are the most prolific, followed by those in China and Taiwan; (3) more theories were used in recent papers than in earlier ones, and the TAM has been the most popular model; (4) B2C and consumer behavior have been the most popular subject areas for EC research; and (5) the core knowledge measured by the co-citation network was provided by the same group of authors in EC and IS journal publications. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol9/iss3/4

Thinking, Feeling, and Worrying: How Uncertainty and Anticipatory Anxiety Affect Technology Use

How does uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety affect technology use? Earlier research has consistently suggested that uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety adversely impels one’s logical judgments, decisions, and behaviors in many situations. In this paper, we examine the combined influence of uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety on technology use. While the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been widely adopted and used, it has shown limited explanatory and predictive power (Chuttur, 2009). The low explanatory power begs for an explanation to what is missing? We believe that uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety could provide a substantial addition to explaining technology use. We suggest that investigating a person’s uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety due to unforeseen/unpredictable circumstances and outcomes could lend to a better understanding of a user’s behavioral intention and use. Thus, the contribution of this study will shed light on the role of uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety on the fundamental issue of technology use