4. Nuove Tecnologie e Autoefficacia percepita: influenze del genere e delle modalità d'uso
Authors
Eleonora Brivio
University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan
Francesca Cilento Ibarra
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand the role of perceived self-efficacy in the digital divide in an Italian sample, considering both the effect of gender and of computer use. Both variables were considered in American research, but without a comparison of the effect in the same sample (Anderson, Bikson, Law, & Mitchell, 1995; Hoffman, Kalsbeek, & Novak, 1996; Hoffman & Novak, 1998). Through an extensive sampling via the Internet, this study evaluated the influence of more variables on perceived self-efficacy with regard to computer use: gender, age, years of owning their own PC, hours (per week) of computer use offline and hours (per week) of computer use online. Analysis of the data (one-way ANOVA) shows that gender and age affect the ability to solve unexpected problems, while the frequency of use allows users to develop a critical approach especially during navigation.