Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Computers

doi:10.2190/H7E1-XMM7-GU9B-3HWR

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Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Computers

Journal Article•DOI•

Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Computers

01 Mar 1995-Journal of Educational Computing Research (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 12, Iss: 2, pp 147-158

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated gender differences regarding computer attitudes and perceived self-efficacy in the use of computers among 147 college students and found that no gender differences were found in computer attitudes or selfefficacy regarding simple computer tasks.

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Abstract: This study is aimed to investigate gender differences regarding computer attitudes and perceived self-efficacy in the use of computers among 147 college students. At the end of a computer course, the students completed a questionnaire designed to measure self-efficacy, computer anxiety, computer liking, and computer confidence. The results revealed gender differences in perceived self-efficacy regarding completion of complex tasks in both word processing and spreadsheet software. No gender differences were found in computer attitudes or self-efficacy regarding simple computer tasks. Male students had previously had more computer experience in programming and computer games and reported that they had previously had more encouragement from parents and friends.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder

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Kimberly S. Young

01 Jan 1998-Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

TL;DR: This study investigated the existence of Internet addiction and the extent of problems caused by such potential misuse by developing a brief eight-item questionnaire referred to as a Diagnostic Questionnaire (DQ), which can be defined as an impulse-control disorder that does not involve an intoxicant.

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Abstract: Anecdotal reports indicated that some on-line users were becoming addicted to the Internet in much the same way that others became addicted to drugs or alcohol, which resulted in academic, social, and occupational impairment. However, research among sociologists, psychologists, or psychiatrists has not formally identified addictive use of the Internet as a problematic behavior. This study investigated the existence of Internet addiction and the extent of problems caused by such potential misuse. Of all the diagnoses referenced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1995), Pathological Gambling was viewed as most akin to the pathological nature of Internet use. By using Pathological Gambling as a model, addictive Internet use can be defined as an impulse-control disorder that does not involve an intoxicant. Therefore, this study developed a brief eight-item questionnaire referred to as a Diagnostic Questionnaire (DQ), which mod...

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4,213 citations

Cites background or result from "Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy..."

...O ften tim es, D ependents preferred their "on-line" friends over their real life relationships due to the ease of anonymous communication and the extent of control in revealing personal information among other on-line users....
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...…shows a significant discrepancy from the stereotypic profile of an "Internet addict" as a young, computer-savvy male (Young, 1996a) and is counter to previous research that has suggested males predominantly utilize and feel comfortable with information technologies (Busch, 1995; Shotton, 1991)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Psychology of computer use: xl. addictive use of the internet : a case that breaks the stereotype

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Kimberly S. Young¹•Institutions (1)

University of Pittsburgh¹

01 Dec 1996-Psychological Reports

TL;DR: This case demonstrates that a nontechnologically oriented woman with a reportedly content home life and no prior addiction or psychiatric history abused the Internet which resulted in significant impairment to her family life.

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Abstract: This case involves a homemaker 43 years of age who is addicted to using the Internet. This case was selected as it demonstrates that a nontechnologically oriented woman with a reportedly content home life and no prior addiction or psychiatric history abused the Internet which resulted in significant impairment to her family life. This paper defines addictive use of the Internet, outlines the subject's progression of addictive on-line use, and discusses the implications of such addictive behavior on the new market of Internet consumers.

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914 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The Multilevel and Multifaceted Character of Computer Self-Efficacy: Toward Clarification of the Construct and An Integrative Framework for Research

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George M. Marakas, Mun Yong Yi, Richard D. Johnson

01 Feb 1998-Information Systems Research

TL;DR: A thorough review of the extant literature related to CSE is provided to present an integrated model of empirical findings that comprehensively defines the multifaceted nature of task-specific CSE in terms of its antecedent, consequent, and moderating factors.

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Abstract: Despite the recent empirical interest and advances in research with regard to the construct of computer self-efficacy (CSE), the results obtained to date have, in some cases, been either equivocal or contradictory. We suggest that such results may be attributable to a general lack of attention to the dynamic, multileveled, and multifaceted nature of the computer self-efficacy construct. We offer examples from the extant CSE literature suggesting weaknesses in existing measures of the construct as well as issues associated with manipulations and the need for control of antecedent and consequent factors directly associated with CSE. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to provide a thorough review of the extant literature related to CSE; (2) to present an integrated model of empirical findings, constructed from a wide variety of disciplines, that comprehensively defines the multifaceted nature of task-specific CSE in terms of its antecedent, consequent, and moderating factors; (3) to present a conceptual model of CSE at the general versus task-specific level; and (4) to use the two models of CSE to proffer guidelines for both measurement and manipulation of the construct. Through our review of the CSE literature, we offer several thoughts regarding the nature of the empirical results obtained to date. The combined objectives serve as a basis for establishing a foundation upon which future research investigating the CSE construct can be based.

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906 citations

Cites background or methods from "Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy..."

...Campbell (1988) and Wood (1986) both found that the number of component parts involved in completing a task and the sequential steps required to perform it successfully both had direct effects on the formation of SE perceptions....
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...…of SLT to the development of training methods intended to enhance CSE appears to be increasingly attractive (Compeau and Higgins 1995b, Gist et al. 1989, Simon 1995, Henry and Stone 1995, Busch 1995, Martocchio and Webster 1992, Smith 1994, Hill et al. 1985, Martocchio and Dulebohn 1994)....
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...Both Busch (1995) and Henry and Stone (1995) measured pre-test verbal persuasion (in the form of previous encouragement and management support, respectively) and found significant relationships between degree of verbal persuasion and subsequent formation of computer attitudes and levels of CSE....
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...Campbell (1988) and Wood (1986) both found that the number of component parts involved in completing a task and the sequential steps required to perform it successfully both had direct effects on the formation of SE perceptions. Cervone (1985) demonstrated that when subjects were asked to focus on the more formidable aspects of a task, their self-efficacy was lowered....
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...…to determine any significant differences across groups (Delcourt and Kinzie 1993, Murphy et al. 1989) to formal assessments of pre-test skill level intended to be used in comparison with other post-test measures (Henry and Stone 1994, Martocchio 1992, Ogletree and Williams 1990, Busch 1995)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Gender, Internet and computer attitudes and experiences

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Phyllis Schumacher¹, Janet Morahan-Martin¹•Institutions (1)

Bryant University¹

01 Jan 2001-Computers in Human Behavior

TL;DR: This paper explores whether Internet and computer experiences, skills and attitudes are related, using evidence from two studies of incoming college students, in 1989/90 and 1997, and finds that both predicted Internet skills and experiences.

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606 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The state of the art in end-user software engineering

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Amy J. Ko¹, Robin Abraham², Laura Beckwith, Alan F. Blackwell³, Margaret Burnett⁴, Martin Erwig⁴, Christopher Scaffidi⁴, Joseph Lawrance⁵, Henry Lieberman⁵, Brad A. Myers⁶, Mary Beth Rosson⁷, Gregg Rothermel⁸, Mary Shaw⁶, Susan Wiedenbeck⁹ - Show less +10 more•Institutions (9)

University of Washington¹, Microsoft², University of Cambridge³, Oregon State University⁴, Massachusetts Institute of Technology⁵, Carnegie Mellon University⁶, Pennsylvania State University⁷, University of Nebraska–Lincoln⁸, Drexel University⁹

29 Apr 2011-ACM Computing Surveys

TL;DR: This article summarizes and classifies research on end-user software engineering activities, defining the area of End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) and related terminology, and addresses several crosscutting issues in the design of EUSE tools.

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Abstract: Most programs today are written not by professional software developers, but by people with expertise in other domains working towards goals for which they need computational support. For example, a teacher might write a grading spreadsheet to save time grading, or an interaction designer might use an interface builder to test some user interface design ideas. Although these end-user programmers may not have the same goals as professional developers, they do face many of the same software engineering challenges, including understanding their requirements, as well as making decisions about design, reuse, integration, testing, and debugging. This article summarizes and classifies research on these activities, defining the area of End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) and related terminology. The article then discusses empirical research about end-user software engineering activities and the technologies designed to support them. The article also addresses several crosscutting issues in the design of EUSE tools, including the roles of risk, reward, and domain complexity, and self-efficacy in the design of EUSE tools and the potential of educating users about software engineering principles.

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562 citations

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References

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Journal Article•DOI•

Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.

[...]

Albert Bandura¹•Institutions (1)

Stanford University¹

01 Mar 1977-Psychological Review

TL;DR: An integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment is presented and findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive mode of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes.

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Abstract: The present article presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from four principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. The more dependable the experiential sources, the greater are the changes in perceived selfefficacy. A number of factors are identified as influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arising from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. Possible directions for further research are discussed.

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38,007 citations

"Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy..." refers background or result in this paper

...According to social learning theory, both the experience of success in performing a task and verbal persuasion will increase self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977 and 1982; Campbell & Hackett, 1986; Hackett & Campbell, 1987). Our results indicate that for the present study, at least encouragement from others was not a significant source of selfefficacy. An interesting question, which cannot be answered on the bases of this study, is whether computer attitudes have changed during the course and affected a change in self-efficacy. So far, the results indicate that computer attitude and selfefficacy are strongly correlated, that they represent different aspects of the personality and that gender differences are found in self-efficacy (complex tasks), and not in computer attitude. With regard to the other variables of this study, male students report more computer experience in computer games and programming than do female students. There are no significant gender differences with respect to previous experience in word processing and spreadsheet programs. This supports the results of Vasil, Hesketh and Podd (1987), and Clarke and Chambers (1989), and indicates that the use of word processing software and spreadsheet programs in high school and home situations gives male and female students the same degree of experience. With regard to encouragement men receive significantly more encouragement from friends and parents than do women. Clarke and Chambers (1989) could not find any gender differences in the amount of influence from significant others - the reason may be that the perceived amount of encouragement was very low....
[...]
...According to social learning theory, both the experience of success in performing a task and verbal persuasion will increase self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977 and 1982; Campbell & Hackett, 1986; Hackett & Campbell, 1987)....
[...]
...According to social learning theory, both the experience of success in performing a task and verbal persuasion will increase self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977 and 1982; Campbell & Hackett, 1986; Hackett & Campbell, 1987). Our results indicate that for the present study, at least encouragement from others was not a significant source of selfefficacy. An interesting question, which cannot be answered on the bases of this study, is whether computer attitudes have changed during the course and affected a change in self-efficacy. So far, the results indicate that computer attitude and selfefficacy are strongly correlated, that they represent different aspects of the personality and that gender differences are found in self-efficacy (complex tasks), and not in computer attitude. With regard to the other variables of this study, male students report more computer experience in computer games and programming than do female students. There are no significant gender differences with respect to previous experience in word processing and spreadsheet programs. This supports the results of Vasil, Hesketh and Podd (1987), and Clarke and Chambers (1989), and indicates that the use of word processing software and spreadsheet programs in high school and home situations gives male and female students the same degree of experience. With regard to encouragement men receive significantly more encouragement from friends and parents than do women. Clarke and Chambers (1989) could not find any gender differences in the amount of influence from significant others - the reason may be that the perceived amount of encouragement was very low. Chen (1986) found gender differences with respect to friends, but not to parents....
[...]
...According to social learning theory, both the experience of success in performing a task and verbal persuasion will increase self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977 and 1982; Campbell & Hackett, 1986; Hackett & Campbell, 1987). Our results indicate that for the present study, at least encouragement from others was not a significant source of selfefficacy. An interesting question, which cannot be answered on the bases of this study, is whether computer attitudes have changed during the course and affected a change in self-efficacy. So far, the results indicate that computer attitude and selfefficacy are strongly correlated, that they represent different aspects of the personality and that gender differences are found in self-efficacy (complex tasks), and not in computer attitude. With regard to the other variables of this study, male students report more computer experience in computer games and programming than do female students. There are no significant gender differences with respect to previous experience in word processing and spreadsheet programs. This supports the results of Vasil, Hesketh and Podd (1987), and Clarke and Chambers (1989), and indicates that the use of word processing software and spreadsheet programs in high school and home situations gives male and female students the same degree of experience. With regard to encouragement men receive significantly more encouragement from friends and parents than do women. Clarke and Chambers (1989) could not find any gender differences in the amount of influence from significant others - the reason may be that the perceived amount of encouragement was very low. Chen (1986) found gender differences with respect to friends, but not to parents. Hess and Miura (1985) found that encouragement may be given more to boys than to girls....
[...]
...Research supports propositions that self-efficacy will influence the choice of whether to engage in a task, the effort expended in performing it, and the persistence shown in accomplishing it (Bandura, 1977; Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Barling & Beattie, 1983; Bouffard-Bouchard, 1990; Brown, Lent & Larkin, 1989; Hackett & Betz, 1989)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change☆☆☆

[...]

Albert Bandura¹•Institutions (1)

Stanford University¹

01 Jan 1978-Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an integrative theoretical framework to explain and predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment, including enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources.

...read moreread less

16,833 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency

[...]

Albert Bandura¹•Institutions (1)

Stanford University¹

01 Jan 1982-American Psychologist

TL;DR: The centrality of the self-efficacy mechanism in human agency is discussed in this paper, where the influential role of perceived collective effi- cacy in social change is analyzed, as are the social con- ditions conducive to development of collective inefficacy.

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Abstract: This article addresses the centrality of the self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. Self-per- cepts of efficacy influence thought patterns, actions, and emotional arousal. In causal tests the higher the level of induced self-efficacy, the higher the perfor- mance accomplishments and the lower the emotional arousal. Different lines of research are reviewed, show- ing that the self-efficacy mechanism may have wide explanatory power. Perceived self-efficacy helps to ac- count for such diverse phenomena as changes in coping behavior produced by different modes of influence, level of physiological stress reactions, self-regulation of refractory behavior, resignation and despondency to failure experiences, self-debilitating effects of proxy control and illusory inefficaciousness, achievement strivings, growth of intrinsic interest, and career pur- suits. The influential role of perceived collective effi- cacy in social change is analyzed, as are the social con- ditions conducive to development of collective inefficacy. Psychological theorizing and research tend to cen- ter on issues concerning either acquisition of knowledge or execution of response patterns. As a result the processes governing the interrelation- ship between knowledge and action have been largely neglected (Newell, 1978). Some of the re- cent efforts to bridge this gap have been directed at the biomechanics problem—how efferent com- mands of action plans guide the production of ap- propriate response patterns (Stelmach, 1976,1978). Others have approached the matter in terms of algorithmic knowledge, which furnishes guides for executing action sequences (Greeno, 1973; Newell, 1973). ,

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14,898 citations

"Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy..." refers background in this paper

...Seeing others succeed or fail is a second source of information that can affect self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982; Gist, 1987; Gist, Schwoerer & Rosen, 1989; Schunk, 1981 and 1982)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation.

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Albert Bandura¹, Dale H. Schunk•Institutions (1)

Stanford University¹

01 Sep 1981-Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

TL;DR: For example, this paper found that children who exhibited gross deficits and disinterest in mathematical tasks pursued a program of self-directed learning under conditions involving either proximal subgoals, distal goals, or no goals.

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Abstract: The present experiment tested the hypothesis that self-motivation through proximal goal setting serves as an effective mechanism for cultivating competencies, self-percepts of efficacy, and intrinsic interest. Children who exhibited gross deficits and disinterest in mathematical tasks pursued a program of self-directed learning under conditions involving either proximal subgoals, distal goals, or no goals. Results of the multifaceted assessment provide support for the superiority of proximal self-influence. Under proximal subgoals, children progressed rapidly in self-directed learning, achieved substantial mastery of mathematical operations, and developed a sense of personal efficacy and intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities that initially held little attraction for them. Distal goals had no demonstrable effects. In addition to its other benefits, goal proximity fostered veridical self-knowledge of capabilities as reflected in high congruence between judgments of mathematical self-efficacy and subsequent mathematical performance. Perceived self-efficacy was positively related to accuracy of mathematical performance and to intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities.

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2,618 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

A self-efficacy approach to the career development of women

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Gail Hackett¹, Nancy E. Betz¹•Institutions (1)

Ohio State University¹

01 Jun 1981-Journal of Vocational Behavior

TL;DR: An approach to the conceptualization and facilitation of women's career development based on A. Bandura's (Social learning theory) self-efficacy theory is presented in this article, where women lack strong expectations of personal efficacy in relationship to many career-related behaviors and thus fail to fully realize their capabilities and talents in career pursuits.

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1,563 citations

Additional excerpts

...…have significantly lower self-efficacy than male students regarding math-related and traditionally male-dominated subjects, including computer science (Betz & Hackett, 1981; Betz & Hackett, 1983; Hackett, 1985; Hackett & Betz, 1981; Lent, Brown & Larkin 1984 and 1985; Post-Kammer & Smith, 1985)....
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