Ofir Turel

Bio: Ofir Turel is an academic researcher from California State University, Fullerton. The author has contributed to research in topics: Psychology & Addiction. The author has an hindex of 43, co-authored 219 publications receiving 7236 citations. Previous affiliations of Ofir Turel include California State University & Information Technology University.

The benefits and dangers of enjoyment with social networking websites

Abstract: Information Systems enjoyment has been identified as a desirable phenomenon, because it can drive various aspects of system use. In this study, we argue that it can also be a key ingredient in the formation of adverse outcomes, such as technology-related addictions, through the positive reinforcement it generates. We rely on several theoretical mechanisms and, consistent with previous studies, suggest that enjoyment can lead to presumably positive outcomes, such as high engagement. Nevertheless, it can also facilitate the development of a strong habit and reinforce it until it becomes a ‘bad habit’, that can help forming a strong pathological and maladaptive psychological dependency on the use of the IT artifact (i.e., technology addiction). We test and validate this dual effect of enjoyment, with a data set of 194 social networking website users analyzed with SEM techniques. The potential duality of MIS constructs and other implications for research and practice are discussed.

Integrating technology addiction and use: an empirical investigation of online auction users

Abstract: Technology addiction is a relatively new mental condition that has not yet been well integrated into mainstream MIS models. This study bridges this gap and incorporates technology addiction into technology use processes in the context of online auctions. It examines how user cognition and ultimately usage intentions toward an information technology are distorted by addiction to the technology. The findings from two empirical studies of 132 and 223 eBay users, using three different operationalizations of addiction, indicate that the level of online auction addiction distorts the way the IT artifact is perceived. Informing a range of cognitionmodification processes, addiction to online auctions augments user perceptions of enjoyment, usefulness, and ease of use attributed to the technology, which in turn influence usage intentions. Overall, consistent with behavioral addiction models, the findings indicate that users' levels of online auction addiction influence their reasoned IT usage decisions by altering users' belief systems. The formation of maladaptive perceptions is driven by a combination of memory-, learning-, and bias-based cognition modification processes. Implications of the findings are discussed.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

Abstract: From the Publisher: A Question of Identity Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.