Can 'fear of human interaction' be one of the factors that affect the acceptance and use of technology?

Abstract

The internet has considerably changed the landscape of communication in the 21st century. People no longer have to leave their homes to engage in meaningful interpersonal communication. More importantly, individuals who have an inherent fear of human interaction seek solace and comfort in communication technologies. This study investigated how individual's 'fear of human interaction' affects technology acceptance. A proposed framework was built based on the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2). The model postulates that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, perceived value, fear of physical interaction (FoPI), and social anxiety (SA) can significantly predict an individual's technology acceptance. Results failed to support the role of social influence and fear of physical interaction. All other variables were significant predictors of behavioural intentions. Data analysis included comparing means of SA and FOPI items to understand our major model extension. More details are reported in the paper.