Personality, individual characteristics, and predisposition to technophobia: some answers, questions, and points to ponder about

Technophobia has been an enduring problem in industrial economies over the last 20 years. Though explanatory models have been proposed to explain the prevalence of technophobia, these efforts have been diffuse, contradictory, and lacking in consistency. Against this background, this paper investigates the role of individual characteristics including: (a) personality variables proposed by the big five theory of personality, (b) cognitive orientation, and (c) math and logic skills on technophobia. Data are gathered from 242 subjects at a private university in Western New York. The research hypotheses are tested using t-tests, and correlation analysis. Interpretation of results and potential directions for future research are presented.