Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies.... more Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies. In this study we rely on the functionalist perspective of human behavior and propose and test a balanced model of the antecedents of online game addiction among adolescents, which simultaneously focuses on motivating, and prevention and harm reduction forces. First, a sample of 163 adolescents was used for validating and refining a survey instrument. Second, survey data collected from 623 adolescents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares techniques. The findings point to several functional needs (e.g., need for relationship and need for escapism) that drive online game playing and addiction, as well as to several prevention and harm reduction factors (e.g., education, attention switching activities) that reduce game playing time and alleviate online game addiction. The effects of motivation and prevention factors on online game addiction are often partially mediated by online game playing. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Studies in health technology and informatics, 2015
The purpose of this study is to theoretically develop and empirically examine a general coping th... more The purpose of this study is to theoretically develop and empirically examine a general coping theory model which explicates the indirect effects of key job-related techno-stressors on job exhaustion. Through this study, we show that techno-stress creators are detrimental to employee well-being and should be treated accordingly. Specifically, we first argue that key techno-stress creators on the job, namely techno-invasion and techno-overload, drive unpleasant states such as work-family conflict and distress. Next, we rely on general coping theory and argue that people respond to these states differently, but with both adaptive and maladaptive technology-specific coping strategies. Adaptive coping behaviors are argued to ultimately reduce work exhaustion, and maladaptive coping strategies are argued to increase it. The proposed model was tested and validated with structural equation modeling techniques applied to self-reported data obtained from a sample of 242 employees of a large ...
Because addictive behaviors typically result from violated homeostasis
of the impulsive (amygdala... more Because addictive behaviors typically result from violated homeostasis of the impulsive (amygdala-striatal) and inhibitory (prefrontal cortex) brain systems, this study examined whether these systems sub-serve a specific case of technology-related addiction, namely Facebook “addiction.” Using a go/no-go paradigm in functional MRI settings, the study examined how these brain systems in 20 Facebook users (M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.3, range = 18–23) who completed a Facebook addiction questionnaire, responded to Facebook and less potent (traffic sign) stimuli. The findings indicated that at least at the examined levels of addiction-like symptoms, technology-related “addictions” share some neural features with substance and gambling addictions, but more importantly they also differ from such addictions in their brain etiology and possibly pathogenesis, as related to abnormal functioning of the inhibitory-control brain system.
This study proposes and validates a dual-risk model of the drivers and inhibitors of the adoption... more This study proposes and validates a dual-risk model of the drivers and inhibitors of the adoption of a mobile e-health application for smoking cessation. This model extends existing approaches for risk taking by accounting for two opposite types of risk: the risk of using the mobile service and risks of not using it, both of which are argued to be instrumental to user decision to use healthcare support technologies. The proposed model was estimated with data collected from 422 smokers and mobile phone users in the UK and Canada. The findings suggest that adoption decisions regarding such a mobile service are driven by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations which channel the effects of the above-mentioned risk assessments on use intentions. This implies that to increase the success of mobile phone use in smoking cessation programmes, perceptions regarding both risks could be targeted.
Many studies have shown that trust is an important cognition that drives the continued use of inf... more Many studies have shown that trust is an important cognition that drives the continued use of information systems. The theoretical reasoning behind this effect has been that trust helps people rule out undesirable, yet possible, opportunistic behaviors , and ultimately makes users more at ease regarding transacting with a website. In this study, we build on the relationship marketing literature and argue that trust may have an even broader role in post-adoption contexts than previously assumed. Not only can trust influence system use intentions directly (a dedication mechanism), but also indirectly through the promotion of social investment in a relationship with a system and its users. This social investment represents a procedural-relational switching cost (a constraint mechanism) which further increases continuance intent. Data collected from 382 social networking website users support the hypotheses and validate the proposed dual-role of trust. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies.... more Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies. In this study we rely on the functionalist perspective of human behavior and propose and test a balanced model of the antecedents of online game addiction among adolescents, which simultaneously focuses on motivating, and prevention and harm reduction forces. First, a sample of 163 adolescents was used for validating and refining a survey instrument. Second, survey data collected from 623 adolescents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares techniques. The findings point to several functional needs (e.g., need for relationship and need for escapism) that drive online game playing and addiction, as well as to several prevention and harm reduction factors (e.g., education, attention switching activities) that reduce game playing time and alleviate online game addiction. The effects of motivation and prevention factors on online game addiction are often partially mediated by online game playing. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
The use of online collaboration tools for virtual teamwork has been studied extensively, but main... more The use of online collaboration tools for virtual teamwork has been studied extensively, but mainly at the individual-level. We decided to examine the effect of macro-level factors (ie, team attributes) and applied hierarchical linear modeling analysis to a sample of data collected ...
This study focuses on three objectives. First, it investigates distinctive profiles of adolescent... more This study focuses on three objectives. First, it investigates distinctive profiles of adolescents based on combinations of their levels of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement with school. Second, it examines whether adolescents’ educational development outcomes (GPA) and extent of use of utilitarian (school oriented) and hedonic (social media and videogames) information technologies (IT) vary as a function of their school engagement profiles. Third, it probes the mediation effects of adolescents’ extent of use of utilitarian and hedonic IT on the relation between the different school engagement dimensions and educational development outcomes. The sample (n = 6885) was drawn from a large nationally representative dataset that is part of a series of annual surveys of American adolescents. Latent profile analysis identified five distinctive profiles of adolescents based on the combinations of their levels of three school engagement dimensions. The results of ANCOVA analyses indicated that these profiles differ in the use of utilitarian and hedonic IT as well as GPAs. Moreover, results of structural equation modeling showed that while the extent of use of hedonic IT partially mediated the effect of school engagement dimensions on GPA, the extent of use of utilitarian IT did not. Considering the importance of adolescents’ school engagement for their development and the essential role of IT in adolescents’ lives, our findings make important contributions to the literature and shed light on promising avenues for future research.
2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2013
ABSTRACT Design of usable interfaces has preoccupied information systems researchers for decades ... more ABSTRACT Design of usable interfaces has preoccupied information systems researchers for decades however there is still little agreement as to what constitute usable systems. Many complex systems such as electronic medical records (EMR) fail to provide users with an intuitive interface and are not designed for environments where (1) users operate under severe opportunity-cost time pressures and (2) users engage in goal-directed activities to accomplish a task. Under these circumstances, what kind of interface should EMR systems present to clinical users? To answer this question the concept of "intuitive interface" based on theories of human intuition such as cognitive-experiential self-theory and cognitive neuroscience is first defined. Next interviews with clinical staff at two hospitals uncover various aspects of intuitive EMR interfaces, and point to the need to further study and improve this important issue. Significance of this research as well as future research directions are discussed.
2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2014
ABSTRACT The information systems (IS) field has relied on a broad and varied collection of theori... more ABSTRACT The information systems (IS) field has relied on a broad and varied collection of theories. The core of this theoretical landscape is an important determinant of the identity of the IS field, and has hence been discussed extensively in recent years. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the composition, consistency, and evolution of this theoretical core. Here we address these issues empirically by identifying the theories and levels of analysis which constitute the core of the IS field, and by quantifying the degree of theoretical uniformity among the field's top journals. Using a set of 87 theories in conjunction with n-gram analyses, we analyze the full text of every research article published in three top IS journals over a 22-year period in order to identify the field's most frequently and consistently used theories and theory clusters. We further identify substantial overlap among the theoretical core of the field's leading journals, but also note differences in the theoretical character of each journal.
... concept of PV into information systems research and forms the foundations for subsequent stud... more ... concept of PV into information systems research and forms the foundations for subsequent studies of technology adoption of wireless VAS and other pay-per-use information services. Recommended Citation. Turel, Ofir; Serenko, Alexander; and Bontis, Nick, "User Acceptance ...
ABSTRACT The possible health hazards of cell phones are a controversial issue that is being debat... more ABSTRACT The possible health hazards of cell phones are a controversial issue that is being debated in various literatures. This study reports on an empirical investigation of the effect of these hazards on the intention to use third generation (3G) cell phones. A model explicating the relationships between health risk perception and behavioural intention to use cell phones is developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Furthermore, the moderating roles of several demographic variables are examined. To obtain variation in health risk perceptions, the study employs an experimental design in which two groups receive contradictory information from trusted sources on the possible health hazards of cell phones. Overall, this study integrates the perceived health risk concept into the technology acceptance literature.
In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the cu... more In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the current implementation of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, given data are compared with a normal distribution that uses the sample mean and the sample variance. We propose to select the mean and variance of the normal distribution that provide the closest fit to the data. This is like shifting and stretching the reference normal distribution so that it fits the data in the best possible way. A study of the power of the proposed test indicates that the test is able to discriminate between the normal distribution and distributions such as uniform, bimodal, beta, exponential, and log-normal that are different in shape but has a relatively lower power against the student's, t-distribution that is similar in shape to the normal distribution. We also compare the performance (both in power and sensitivity to outlying observations) of the proposed test with existing normality tests such as Anderson–Darling and Shapiro–Francia.
Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies.... more Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies. In this study we rely on the functionalist perspective of human behavior and propose and test a balanced model of the antecedents of online game addiction among adolescents, which simultaneously focuses on motivating, and prevention and harm reduction forces. First, a sample of 163 adolescents was used for validating and refining a survey instrument. Second, survey data collected from 623 adolescents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares techniques. The findings point to several functional needs (e.g., need for relationship and need for escapism) that drive online game playing and addiction, as well as to several prevention and harm reduction factors (e.g., education, attention switching activities) that reduce game playing time and alleviate online game addiction. The effects of motivation and prevention factors on online game addiction are often partially mediated by online game playing. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Studies in health technology and informatics, 2015
The purpose of this study is to theoretically develop and empirically examine a general coping th... more The purpose of this study is to theoretically develop and empirically examine a general coping theory model which explicates the indirect effects of key job-related techno-stressors on job exhaustion. Through this study, we show that techno-stress creators are detrimental to employee well-being and should be treated accordingly. Specifically, we first argue that key techno-stress creators on the job, namely techno-invasion and techno-overload, drive unpleasant states such as work-family conflict and distress. Next, we rely on general coping theory and argue that people respond to these states differently, but with both adaptive and maladaptive technology-specific coping strategies. Adaptive coping behaviors are argued to ultimately reduce work exhaustion, and maladaptive coping strategies are argued to increase it. The proposed model was tested and validated with structural equation modeling techniques applied to self-reported data obtained from a sample of 242 employees of a large ...
Because addictive behaviors typically result from violated homeostasis
of the impulsive (amygdala... more Because addictive behaviors typically result from violated homeostasis of the impulsive (amygdala-striatal) and inhibitory (prefrontal cortex) brain systems, this study examined whether these systems sub-serve a specific case of technology-related addiction, namely Facebook “addiction.” Using a go/no-go paradigm in functional MRI settings, the study examined how these brain systems in 20 Facebook users (M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.3, range = 18–23) who completed a Facebook addiction questionnaire, responded to Facebook and less potent (traffic sign) stimuli. The findings indicated that at least at the examined levels of addiction-like symptoms, technology-related “addictions” share some neural features with substance and gambling addictions, but more importantly they also differ from such addictions in their brain etiology and possibly pathogenesis, as related to abnormal functioning of the inhibitory-control brain system.
This study proposes and validates a dual-risk model of the drivers and inhibitors of the adoption... more This study proposes and validates a dual-risk model of the drivers and inhibitors of the adoption of a mobile e-health application for smoking cessation. This model extends existing approaches for risk taking by accounting for two opposite types of risk: the risk of using the mobile service and risks of not using it, both of which are argued to be instrumental to user decision to use healthcare support technologies. The proposed model was estimated with data collected from 422 smokers and mobile phone users in the UK and Canada. The findings suggest that adoption decisions regarding such a mobile service are driven by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations which channel the effects of the above-mentioned risk assessments on use intentions. This implies that to increase the success of mobile phone use in smoking cessation programmes, perceptions regarding both risks could be targeted.
Many studies have shown that trust is an important cognition that drives the continued use of inf... more Many studies have shown that trust is an important cognition that drives the continued use of information systems. The theoretical reasoning behind this effect has been that trust helps people rule out undesirable, yet possible, opportunistic behaviors , and ultimately makes users more at ease regarding transacting with a website. In this study, we build on the relationship marketing literature and argue that trust may have an even broader role in post-adoption contexts than previously assumed. Not only can trust influence system use intentions directly (a dedication mechanism), but also indirectly through the promotion of social investment in a relationship with a system and its users. This social investment represents a procedural-relational switching cost (a constraint mechanism) which further increases continuance intent. Data collected from 382 social networking website users support the hypotheses and validate the proposed dual-role of trust. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies.... more Online game addiction has become a common phenomenon that affects many individuals and societies. In this study we rely on the functionalist perspective of human behavior and propose and test a balanced model of the antecedents of online game addiction among adolescents, which simultaneously focuses on motivating, and prevention and harm reduction forces. First, a sample of 163 adolescents was used for validating and refining a survey instrument. Second, survey data collected from 623 adolescents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares techniques. The findings point to several functional needs (e.g., need for relationship and need for escapism) that drive online game playing and addiction, as well as to several prevention and harm reduction factors (e.g., education, attention switching activities) that reduce game playing time and alleviate online game addiction. The effects of motivation and prevention factors on online game addiction are often partially mediated by online game playing. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
The use of online collaboration tools for virtual teamwork has been studied extensively, but main... more The use of online collaboration tools for virtual teamwork has been studied extensively, but mainly at the individual-level. We decided to examine the effect of macro-level factors (ie, team attributes) and applied hierarchical linear modeling analysis to a sample of data collected ...
This study focuses on three objectives. First, it investigates distinctive profiles of adolescent... more This study focuses on three objectives. First, it investigates distinctive profiles of adolescents based on combinations of their levels of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement with school. Second, it examines whether adolescents’ educational development outcomes (GPA) and extent of use of utilitarian (school oriented) and hedonic (social media and videogames) information technologies (IT) vary as a function of their school engagement profiles. Third, it probes the mediation effects of adolescents’ extent of use of utilitarian and hedonic IT on the relation between the different school engagement dimensions and educational development outcomes. The sample (n = 6885) was drawn from a large nationally representative dataset that is part of a series of annual surveys of American adolescents. Latent profile analysis identified five distinctive profiles of adolescents based on the combinations of their levels of three school engagement dimensions. The results of ANCOVA analyses indicated that these profiles differ in the use of utilitarian and hedonic IT as well as GPAs. Moreover, results of structural equation modeling showed that while the extent of use of hedonic IT partially mediated the effect of school engagement dimensions on GPA, the extent of use of utilitarian IT did not. Considering the importance of adolescents’ school engagement for their development and the essential role of IT in adolescents’ lives, our findings make important contributions to the literature and shed light on promising avenues for future research.
2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2013
ABSTRACT Design of usable interfaces has preoccupied information systems researchers for decades ... more ABSTRACT Design of usable interfaces has preoccupied information systems researchers for decades however there is still little agreement as to what constitute usable systems. Many complex systems such as electronic medical records (EMR) fail to provide users with an intuitive interface and are not designed for environments where (1) users operate under severe opportunity-cost time pressures and (2) users engage in goal-directed activities to accomplish a task. Under these circumstances, what kind of interface should EMR systems present to clinical users? To answer this question the concept of "intuitive interface" based on theories of human intuition such as cognitive-experiential self-theory and cognitive neuroscience is first defined. Next interviews with clinical staff at two hospitals uncover various aspects of intuitive EMR interfaces, and point to the need to further study and improve this important issue. Significance of this research as well as future research directions are discussed.
2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2014
ABSTRACT The information systems (IS) field has relied on a broad and varied collection of theori... more ABSTRACT The information systems (IS) field has relied on a broad and varied collection of theories. The core of this theoretical landscape is an important determinant of the identity of the IS field, and has hence been discussed extensively in recent years. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the composition, consistency, and evolution of this theoretical core. Here we address these issues empirically by identifying the theories and levels of analysis which constitute the core of the IS field, and by quantifying the degree of theoretical uniformity among the field's top journals. Using a set of 87 theories in conjunction with n-gram analyses, we analyze the full text of every research article published in three top IS journals over a 22-year period in order to identify the field's most frequently and consistently used theories and theory clusters. We further identify substantial overlap among the theoretical core of the field's leading journals, but also note differences in the theoretical character of each journal.
... concept of PV into information systems research and forms the foundations for subsequent stud... more ... concept of PV into information systems research and forms the foundations for subsequent studies of technology adoption of wireless VAS and other pay-per-use information services. Recommended Citation. Turel, Ofir; Serenko, Alexander; and Bontis, Nick, "User Acceptance ...
ABSTRACT The possible health hazards of cell phones are a controversial issue that is being debat... more ABSTRACT The possible health hazards of cell phones are a controversial issue that is being debated in various literatures. This study reports on an empirical investigation of the effect of these hazards on the intention to use third generation (3G) cell phones. A model explicating the relationships between health risk perception and behavioural intention to use cell phones is developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Furthermore, the moderating roles of several demographic variables are examined. To obtain variation in health risk perceptions, the study employs an experimental design in which two groups receive contradictory information from trusted sources on the possible health hazards of cell phones. Overall, this study integrates the perceived health risk concept into the technology acceptance literature.
In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the cu... more In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the current implementation of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, given data are compared with a normal distribution that uses the sample mean and the sample variance. We propose to select the mean and variance of the normal distribution that provide the closest fit to the data. This is like shifting and stretching the reference normal distribution so that it fits the data in the best possible way. A study of the power of the proposed test indicates that the test is able to discriminate between the normal distribution and distributions such as uniform, bimodal, beta, exponential, and log-normal that are different in shape but has a relatively lower power against the student's, t-distribution that is similar in shape to the normal distribution. We also compare the performance (both in power and sensitivity to outlying observations) of the proposed test with existing normality tests such as Anderson–Darling and Shapiro–Francia.
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Papers by Ofir Turel
of the impulsive (amygdala-striatal) and inhibitory (prefrontal cortex) brain
systems, this study examined whether these systems sub-serve a specific case of
technology-related addiction, namely Facebook “addiction.” Using a go/no-go paradigm
in functional MRI settings, the study examined how these brain systems in
20 Facebook users (M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.3, range = 18–23) who completed a Facebook
addiction questionnaire, responded to Facebook and less potent (traffic sign)
stimuli. The findings indicated that at least at the examined levels of addiction-like
symptoms, technology-related “addictions” share some neural features with substance
and gambling addictions, but more importantly they also differ from such
addictions in their brain etiology and possibly pathogenesis, as related to abnormal
functioning of the inhibitory-control brain system.
of the impulsive (amygdala-striatal) and inhibitory (prefrontal cortex) brain
systems, this study examined whether these systems sub-serve a specific case of
technology-related addiction, namely Facebook “addiction.” Using a go/no-go paradigm
in functional MRI settings, the study examined how these brain systems in
20 Facebook users (M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.3, range = 18–23) who completed a Facebook
addiction questionnaire, responded to Facebook and less potent (traffic sign)
stimuli. The findings indicated that at least at the examined levels of addiction-like
symptoms, technology-related “addictions” share some neural features with substance
and gambling addictions, but more importantly they also differ from such
addictions in their brain etiology and possibly pathogenesis, as related to abnormal
functioning of the inhibitory-control brain system.