Psychology of computer use: XXXV. Differences in computer users' stress and self-concept in college personnel and students.

Full Abstract

104 college students and 88 college faculty/staff at a midwestern university completed a questionnaire composed of the Computer Hassles Scale, a measure of computer users' stress, somatization/anxiety items from the Symptoms Checklist-90, a measure of stress reactions, and the Revised Personal Attribute Inventory, a measure of self-concept. Correlations indicated that for students there was a significant negative relationship between computer users' stress and self-concept (r = -.30), while for faculty/staff there was a significant positive relationship (r = .28). Regression analyses showed that self-concept moderated the relationship between computer users' stress and stress outcomes for only the faculty-staff sample. The moderator effect was interpreted using Linville's 1987 "buffering hypothesis," which suggests that persons with higher scores on self-concept are less prone to experience stress-related outcomes like somatization/anxiety symptoms.

Author information

Author/s: Hudiburg, R A (RA); Necessary, J R (JR);

Affiliation: University of North Alabama, Florence 35632, USA. rhudibur(-atsign-)unaalpha.una.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychological reports (Psychol Rep), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1996-Jun; vol 78 (issue 3 Pt 1) : pp 931-7

Dates: Created 1996/09/06; Completed 1996/09/06; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 8711049, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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