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New age technology and new "aged" workers: The impact of age on computer technology skill acquisition and the influence of computer self-efficacy, age-related beliefs, and change attitudes

Kendra Lee Reed, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

Competitive forces command that organizations do something new and high tech that enables more work to be done better and faster than ever. While these pressures stimulate new world-class technology, not everything in this era is new. The work force is aging as people overall live longer and the baby boom generation gets older. Simultaneous demographic and technological trends demand that organizations examine and capitalize on the way new "aged" workers acquire "new age" technological skills. This study faced the organizational challenge of these two "new age" trends. This study proposed that computer self-efficacy beliefs explain the inverse relationship between age and computer technology skill acquisition. As not all older workers are computer illiterate, this study further argued that age-related beliefs and attitudes toward change moderated the relationship between age and computer self-efficacy. Hypotheses were developed and tested for the influences of operationalized variables on computer skill acquisition. Free basic computer training courses provided the setting to actively measure computer skill acquisition for a sample of diverse ages. One hundred and six members of a midwest community voluntarily participated in this computer training research project. Taking measures of performance and confidence at multiple times enabled verification of skill acquisition and corresponding efficacy beliefs. The findings showed that age negatively influenced computer skill acquisition, but for subjective measures only and not for objective assessments. Efficacy beliefs did play a role in influencing performance and also significantly mediated the relationship between age and computer skill acquisition. Introduction of the moderating variables uncovered a complex interaction between age, age-related beliefs in technology, and attitudes toward technological change and the resulting impact on efficacy and skill acquisition. In conclusion, this study's results revealed the complexity of the relationship between age and computer skill acquisition. Consistent with prior research, multiple factors, including age, influence computer performance. This study makes it clear that the influence of age varies over time and across performance measures. Implications for future investigations, training, and managing an older work force were discussed.

Subject Area

Management|Gerontology|Occupational psychology

Recommended Citation

Reed, Kendra Lee, "New age technology and new "aged" workers: The impact of age on computer technology skill acquisition and the influence of computer self-efficacy, age-related beliefs, and change attitudes" (1998). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9903783.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9903783

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