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competence, and self-determination; self-efficacy is one of the major factors theorized to underlie
affective reactions (Bandura, 1982; Bandura, 1977). Flow theory also suggests that the feasibility of
the activity for an individual encourages flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). Information technologies
that are threatening and difficult to use are less likely to be enjoyable for users. PEOU may also
negatively relate to computer anxiety. Considering that PEOU is closely related to computer self-
efficacy and that computer self-efficacy is confirmed to have significant effects on computer anxiety,
it is very likely that PEOU is significantly related to computer anxiety. Brosnan (1999) empirically
confirmed this effect.
Exceptions do exist. For example, Hu et al. (1999) failed to confirm the PEOU's anticipated
impact on attitude. Hu et al. attributed this failure to their subjects, physicians, who have above-
average general competence and therefore can “assimilate a new technology quickly and become
familiar with its operation without as intense training as might be necessary for other user popula-
tions” (p. 105). This result actually echoes our argument in the first section that studies of attitude
show mixed results. Consistent with our argument, the impact of perceived usefulness on BI is not
totally mediated by attitude, which confirms the “independence” of affective and cognitive reactions.
CSE's impacts on affective reaction variables are also widely studied. The major work has been
done by Compeau and Higgins (1995) who adapted Bandura's social cognitive theory to the IS field.
Computer self-efficacy influences users' affective reactions in that users tend to enjoy using informa-
tion technologies when they feel they are capable of mastering them successfully. Conversely, when
they do not feel they can handle IT, users dislike it or have negative affective reactions to it (Compeau
and Higgins, 1995). Bandura's self-efficacy theory also confirmed this relationship, arguing that indi-
viduals experience anxiety in attempting to perform certain behaviors that they do not feel competent
to perform (Bandura, 1977). Those with higher self-efficacy are more likely to experience positive
affect than those with lower self-efficacy. This causal relationship is empirically confirmed in IS liter-
atures (Brosnan, 1999; Compeau and Higgins, 1995; Compeau et al., 1999; Durndell and Haag, 2002).
There are some exceptions. For instance, Beckers and Schmidt (2001) failed to confirm the
impact of computer self-efficacy on affect, which was separated into physical arousal and affective
feelings in their research. Their findings, however, indicated that contrary to their expectation, com-
puter literacy, which refers to users' actual experience with computers, has a significant relationship
with computer self-efficacy and affect factors (Beckers and Schmidt, 2001). In other words, com-
puter literacy mediates CSE's influence on physical arousal and affective feeling. Therefore, they
argued that self-efficacy might influence physical arousal and affective feelings only to the extent
that it raises computer literacy (Beckers and Schmidt, 2001). So we still expect a significant rela-
tionship between CSE and affective reaction factors after controlling the computer literacy factor.
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION
Affect receives remarkably less attention from IS researchers than cognition. However, affect has
been confirmed to be critical in understanding human behavior in fields such as psychology, mar-
keting, and consumer and organizational behavior research. While studying affect-related con-
cepts, IS researchers focus on different aspects of affect and its role in individual reactions toward
using IT. The relationships between affective factors and other types of factors, such as cognitive
or behavioral factors, are less consistent in the existing IS research. In addition, few studies have
attempted to examine the role of affect systematically in order to guide research and practice.
Motivated by the advances in other fields, we try to establish a model of the individual inter-
acting with IT where affect is an integral and important part. This model also holds existing find-
ings together in a cohesive way, and thus is able to explain existing IS research. Further, it has
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