Individual Adjustment to Information-Driven Technologies: A Critical Review

Little is currently known about the process of individual adjustment to information technology innovations. This article reports the results of a critical review of the literature, using an interactional psychology framework. In the past, researchers have focused on the limited themes of stress and attitudes. The indicators of individual adjustment emphasized in past research are strain symptoms and general job satisfaction. The proposed interactional framework represents a more comprehensive approach incorporating organizational, work group, and job factors that affect individual adjustment. The range of individual adjustment indicators should be broadened to include facets of satisfaction, organizational commitment, job involvement, and performance. By adopting this framework and refining the process used by researchers in studying individual adjustment, a better match between research issues and problems faced by managers will be achieved.