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Abstract
Microcomputer                                          Previous playfulness research has investigated

Playfulness:                                           playfulness as both state and trait phenomena.
                                                       For example, Webster et aL (1993) examined
                                                       flow, the state of playfulness in a specific human-
Stable or                                          i
                                                       computer interaction, while Martocchio and Web-
                                                       ster (1992) used a trait-based approach, con-
                                                       sidering playfulness a characteristic of individuals.
Dynamic Trait?                                         This research extends the investigation of play-
                                                       fulness as an individual trait by using a longitudinal
                                                       study to examine its temporal and situational sta-
Susan E. Yager                                         bility.
University of North Texas
                                                       The Computer Playfulness Scale (Webster &
                                                       Martocchio, 1992) was administered four times
Leon A. Kappelman                                      over the course of a five-week summer session to
University of North Texas                              students enrolled in a computer-literacy course,
                                                       once at the beginning of the class and then
                                                       following completion of three milestones in the
Glenn A. Maples                                        course work. The playfulness instrument was
University of North Texas                              assessed for internal consistency, unidimen-
                                                       sionality, and temporal and situational stability.
Victor R. Prybutok                                     The evidence indicates that the measurement is
University of North Texas                              reliable. The primary question of trait stability
                                                       (stable versus dynamic) was examined in several
                                                       ways, supporting the conclusion that playfulness
                                                       is a stable trait. The implica~ons of these findings
                                                       and suggested further research are discussed.
                                                       Keywords: playfulness, longitudinal study, traits,
                                                       cognitive playfulness, cognitive spontaneity, com-
                                                       puter playfulness scale.
                                                       ACM Categories: H.1.2, J.4, K.6.1
                                                       Introduction
                                                       Increasingly, MIS designers are able to add
                                                       "playful" items to systems. Flying toaster screen
                                                   i
                                                       savers, Porky Pig's voicing of audible cues, and
                                                       desktops constructed in themes tied to Disney
                                                       characters inhabit a growing number of comput-
                                                       ers. Moreover, new multimedia capabilities and
                                                       the advent of virtual reality offer new methods to
                                                       further increase microcomputer playfulness. Con-
                                                       current with these new playfulness-enhancing
                                                       technologies, system designers have growing
                                                       abilities to customize and individualize systems.
                                                   i
                                                       Increasingly sophisticated individual agents have
                                                       begun to lurk in cyberspace. Application pack-
                                                       ages and operating systems have almost univer-
                                                       sally adopted user-adjustable graphical user inter-
                                                       faces (GUIs) which are frequently customizable.
                                                       These new capabilities underscore the need to
                                                       understand better the role of playfulness in


The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)                        43
system design and training. Information systems          conditions of personality traits are temporal sta-
professionals face a critical issue in understand-       bility and cross-situational consistency (e.g.,
ing when playfulness augments the learning or            Veenhoven, 1994).
operating of a system, when playfulness may
serve as a distraction, and how the appropriate          In the MIS literature, traits are defined as static
use of playfulness may depend on individual and          aspects of human information-processing charac-
system differences.                                      teristics affecting a broad range of variables
                                                         (Bostrom, Olfman, & Sein, 1990). General traits
 Previous playfulness research has investigated          refer to comparatively stable characteristics of
playfulness as both state and trait phenomena.           individuals that are relatively invariant to situ-
For example, Webster et al. (1993) examined              ational stimuli (Webster & Martocchio, 1992).
flow, the state of playfulness in a specific human-      Cognitive traits are based on processing prefer-
computer interaction, while Martocchio and               ences and include cognitive styles (Bostrom,
Webster (1992) used a trait-based approach,              OIfman, & Sein, 1990). The effect of individual
considering playfulness a characteristic of indivi-      traits on computer usage has a rich history in the
duals. This research extends the investigation of        IS literature, including recent work concentrating
playfulness as an individual trait by using a            on computer self-efficacy (e.g., Compeau &
longitudinal study to examine its temporal and           Higgins, 1995), computer anxiety (e.g., Fajou,
situational stability.                                   1996), and conscientiousness (e.g., Stewart,
                                                         Carson, & Cardy, 1996).
Background
                                                         MIS professionals seeking to match both the
The importance of individual differences in the
                                                         systems and the training methods for these
design and operation of information systems can
                                                         systems to individual differences should not only
be traced to the earliest frameworks of information
                                                         consider differences among individuals but also
systems. For example, "an information system
                                                         whether these differences are dynamic. In par-
consists of, at least, a PERSON of a certain
                                                         ticular, professionals should consider whether
PSYCHOLOGICAL T Y P E . . . "(Mason & Mitroff,
                                                         users' attitudes or behaviors might change as they
1972, p. 475) is one of the earliest frameworks for
                                                         gain exposure to a system. If the individual traits
defining information systems. In addition to other
                                                         are not stable (either temporally or situationally),
effects psychological types or traits have, indi-
                                                         the problem of matching these traits to system
vidual differences may affect users' learning about
                                                         characteristics becomes decidedly more difficult.
new software; and some researchers perceive a
critical need to match training methods to these
individual differences (e.g., Bostrom, Olfman, &         Cognitive Playfulness
Sein, 1990).
                                                         Playfulness is considered a multi-faceted con-
Over the last ten years, psychologists seeking to        struct, encompassing five dimensions: cognitive
explain individual differences in personality and        spontaneity, social spontaneity, physical spon-
behavior increasingly subscribe to trait theories.       taneity, manifest joy, and sense of humor (Barnett,
Furthermore, the most popular of these psycho-           1990; Barnett, 1991; Lieberman, 1977). These
logical trait theories is the five factor model (FFM).   five dimensions are illustrated as follows: cog-
This personality model (based on the dimensions          nitive spontaneity is the imaginative play of young
of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agree-           children and the combinatorial play of creative
ableness, and conscientiousness) is charac-              adults; social spontaneity is the ability to be
terized as "a basic discovery" (McCrae & John,           comfortable in a group setting and to move freely
1992), the basis for the field of personality and        in and out of such a social structure; physical
individual differences (Buss, 1989), and sufficient      spontaneity is evident in unstructured play
to characterize both normal and abnormal                 activities such as jumping rope; manifest joy bears
behavior (Widiger, 1993). However, despite the           different labels such as pleasure and happiness;
general acceptance of trait theory as key in             and sense of humor results from surprising,
understanding human behavior, there is no                 incongruous, or novel events, whether the in-
generally accepted definition of the term "per-          dividual is the producer or the consumer
sonality trait." Personality traits are generally        (Lieberman, 1977). In recent publications and for
thought of as long-.term predispositions to certain      this study, cognitive spontaneity in human-com-
behaviors or attitudes. Two generally accepted           puter interactions is considered a surrogate for


   44                 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
"cognitive playfulness" (Martocchio & Webster,         The Study
1992). Cognitive playfulness has been studied as
a trait that influences ease of microcomputer use      Subjects and Measures
and resultant learning. "Employees higher in cog-
nitive playfulness demonstrated higher test            The subjects were volunteer undergraduate
performance and more positive affective out-           students enrolled in a computer-literacy course at
comes than those lower in cognitive playfulness"       a moderately large southwestern university and
(Martocchio & Webster, 1992, p. 553). In addi-         received course credit for their participation. Each
tion, those higher in playfulness are expected to      of seventy-seven subjects was asked to complete
exercise and develop skills through exploratory        four iterations of Webster and Martocchio's (1992)
behaviors (Miller, 1973), resulting in improved        Computer Playfulness Survey instrument (see the
performance or increased learning (Martocchio &        Appendix) over a five-week summer session, once
Webster, 1992).                                        at the beginning of the course and again following
                                                       the completion of three milestones in the course
There are, however, potential drawbacks of
                                                       work. The administrations are referred to as 1)
playfulness, such as requiring a longer time to
                                                       initial administration, a baseline on the first day of
complete tasks (Sandelands, 1988), over-involve-
                                                       class; 2) Windows, following introduction to and
ment (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), and increased
                                                       project completion using the Microsoft Windows
opportunities for non-productive play (Nash,
                                                       operating environment; 3) Word, following intro-
1990). Organizations must be aware that playful-
                                                       duction to and project completion using Microsoft
ness may result in wasted time; but it may also
                                                       Word; and 4) Excel, following introduction to and
result in more effective, more productive, and
                                                       project completion using Microsoft Excel.
higher-quality results (Starbuck & Webster, 1991 ).

Computer Playfulness Scale                             The playfulness score was determined by adding
                                                       together (i.e., a linear sum) the responses of each
The Computer Playfulness Scale (CPS) de-               individual for the seven items identified by Web-
veloped by Webster and Martocchio (1992) is a          ster and Martocchio (1992) as comprising the
self-reported instrument. It is designed to mea-       playfulness construct: spontaneous, unimagin-
sure microcomputer playfulness, a situation-           ative, flexible, creative, playful, unoriginal, and
specific individual characteristic which represents    uninventive. This was done after adjusting for the
the degree of cognitive spontaneity in micro-          three items that were reverse-scored, compen-
computer interactions (Webster & Martocchio,           sating for yea-saying or nay-saying individuals
1992). Furthermore, microcomputer playfulness          who have a more or less global tendency to agree
demonstrates higher predictive efficacy for train-     or disagree (Alreck & Settle, 1995).
ing effectiveness (learning or understanding),
compared to previously utilized computer anxiety       Two primary goals of this research were to test
and computer attitudes (Webster & Martocchio,          the temporal stability and situational consistency
1992). Test-retest reliability has proven strong       of the playfulness construct.        Psychologists
(correlation .85, p<.001) in previous studies using    evaluating the temporal stability of other person-
the CPS (Webster & Martocchio, 1992).                  ality traits have selected periods as short as
                                                       several days or as long as several years in
The Problem                                            evaluating trait stability. Since the focus of this
                                                       research was playfulness during microcomputer
Because of the growing ability to manipulate the
                                                       training, a five-week training period was used. In
playfulness of computer systems and training, the
                                                       addition to being similar in length to other trait
Computer Playfulness Scale measure represents
                                                       studies (e.g., Stewart, Carson, & Cardy, 1996),
a potentially powerful tool allowing system design-
                                                       this period meets or exceeds the length of time of
ers to address the interaction of system and
                                                       training in most industry training environments.
individual playfulness. However, before system
designers can accommodate the construct of play-       End-user microcomputer training is subject to
fulness, its trait nature must be more fully ex-       constraints that make microcomputer playfulness
plored. In particular, this research seeks to estab-   less subject to environmental variation than many
lish the temporal stability and situational consis-    other personality constructs. One of the most
tency of the playfulness construct.                    important variants in computer training is task,



The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)                        45
more specifically the type of software to be           playfulness scores over time or across situations.
learned. Three of the most common software             First this hypothesis was tested by examining the
groups are operating systems, word processing,         correlations among scores obtained by the same
and spreadsheets (e.g., Jones & Berry, 1995).          person on multiple administrations of the same
This research tests across these software groups       instrument (Anastasi, 1988). This is the same
as cross-situational variables.                        statistical procedure used to perform test-retest
                                                       reliability of instruments. Reliability coefficient (r)
Instrument Reliabillity: Intemal Consistency           values of at least 0.70 indicate that the results are
and Unidimensionality                                  stable over time (Litwin, 1995). However, caution
                                                       must be exercised when interpreting these results.
Internal consistency for the seven-item play-
                                                       Practice effect may falsely inflate the correlations
fulness instrument was assessed with Cronbach's
                                                       (Litwin, 1995). As individuals become familiar
(1951) coefficient alpha, "probably the best es-
                                                       with the items on a survey, they may simply an-
timate of internal consistency" (Crano & Brewer,
                                                       swer based on their memory of how they
1973, p. 230). The results are shown in Table 1
                                                       answered previously (Litwin, 1995). The length of
below. Based on the greater than 0.80 rule-of-
                                                       the instrument, which included at least three other
thumb (Crano & Brewer, 1973; Nunnally, 1978;
                                                       instruments in each administration, was designed
Blau, 1988), these coefficients indicate that the
                                                       in part to minimize this problem.
seven-item playfulness instrument appears to
have high internal consistency. Test-retest reli-
                                                       To confirm further that the learning effect was not
ability was also examined and is discussed under
                                                       a serious threat to the experiment, the authors
hypothesis testing.
                                                       analyzed the change in variance by individuals
                                                       across administrations. In the event of a sig-
Another method for assessing internal consis-
                                                       nificant learning bias, one would expect de-
tency is to determine whether items "share only
                                                       creasing variance as answers became ~more pat"
one common focus" (Crano & Brewer, 1973, p.
                                                       (that is, individual's responses would increasingly
231). The unidimensionality of the scale was
                                                       mirror the previous set of responses). The data
evaluated by means of the factorial validity
                                                       showed a slight increase in variance from the first
(Kappelman, 1995) of the seven-item scale using
                                                       inter-item variance measure (based on individual
the SPSS/PC+ FACTOR procedure (SPSS, Inc.,
                                                       differences between administrations 1 and 2) to
1993). Each of the four administrations of the
                                                       the last (based on differences between admin-
playfulness instrument resulted in all seven items
                                                       istrations 3 and 4). Although this analysis does
loading on e single factor. The first eigenvalues,     not preclude a learning effect between the first
percent of variance explained by the first eigen-      and second administrations, in the opinion of the
value, ratio of the first eigenvalue to the second,
                                                       authors if such an effect was significant it would
and range of factor Ioadings are shown in Table 2
                                                       likely increase in subsequent administrations.
for each administration. Eigenvalues (3.888 to
                                                       Thus, learning effect did not appear to be a sig-
5.143) and percent of variance (55.5% to 73.5%)
                                                       nificant threat to this investigation.
are relatively large for all of the four adminis-
trations, indicating a consistently high percentage    These reliability coefficients between adminis-
of variance explained by the first factor. The ratio   trations of the same instrument represent cor-
of the first to the second eigenvalues is also         relations between the linear sums. Since it may
substantial, ranging from 4.260:1 to 7.649:1. The      be possible for two consecutive administrations to
factor loading should attain a minimum of 0.50
                                                       exhibit little difference while cumulative dif-
(Straub, 1989) to be considered as part of a           ferences over several administrations may indi-
factor. Each of the administrations surpasses that     cate a substantial difference, each result was
level on all seven items. Unidimensionality is         compared with all other administrations (see
supported by these results, especially by the large
                                                       Table 3). The playfulness scores remained
factor Ioadings.                                       substantively invariant across the four adminis-
Hypothesis Testing                                     trations, supporting the stable trait charac-
                                                       terization of the playfulness construct.
Previous research has stated that playfulness is
a trait. This study tested the hypothesis that play-   The correlations appeared to weaken between
fulness is a trait and there will be no change in      non-consecutive administrations over time,



    46                The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
Administration                                  Cronbach's Alpha
              Initial          (n = 60)                                       .9029
              Windows          (n = 62)                                       .8825
              Word             (n = 60)                                       .8656
              Excel            (n = 49)                                       .9383

                                Table 1. Intemal Consistency Coefficients



       Administration        Eigenvalue       Percent of      Ratio of             Range of Factor
                                              Variance        First:Second         Loadings
       Initial               4.454            63.6            5.643:1              .65400   - .90428
       Windows               4.182            59.7            4.377:1              .61597   -. 85471
       Word                  3.888            55.5            4.260:1              .70640   -. 81484
       Excel                 5.143            73.5            7.649:1              .68962   - .88752

                         Table 2. Evidence of Unidimensionality (Factor Analysis)



                 Administration                       Correlation                  Significance
       Initial with Windows       (n = 52)                 .842                         .000
       Initial with Word          (n = 50)                 .767                         .000
       Initial with Excel         (n = 41 )                .669                         .000
       Windows with Word          (n = 54)                 .822                         .000
       Windows with Excel         (n = 45)                 .783                         .000
       Word with Excel            (n = 44)                 .901                         .000

                              Table 3. Correlations between Administrations

bringing into question either the test-retest                 that the results were changing. If the playfulness
reliability over short time periods or raising the            trait is dynamic, one would expect to see changes
possibility that playfulness is dynamic and not a             occur over time. However, if it is stable, one
stable trait. Comparisons were made of the means              would expect to see the effect by subject. The
and standard deviations (see Table 4) using a                 participants themselves (SUBJECTS) accounted
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and no                  for the variance (F = 13.178, p = .000), while
significant difference in playfulness was found for           different administrations (TIME) did not have a
any of the four administrations (p = 0.867). These            significant effect (F = 1.300, p = 0.276). The vari-
results indicate that playfulness meets both of the           ation in an individual's results can be attributed to
stability requirements for personality traits -               the individual's playfulness trait, not the timing of
stability across both time and situations.                    the administration.

To test the playfulness-as-stable-trait hypothesis,           Conclusions
a two-way ANOVA (see Table 5) was computed to                 The results of this longitudinal study indicate that
determine whether it was by subject or by time                playfulness is a stable trait. The playfulness


The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems w Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)                                47
Administration                      N                        Mean                       St. Dev.
        Initial                         60                      21.767                       9.039
          Windows                       62                      22.339                        8.248
          Word                          60                      22.250                        8.171
          Excel                         49                      21.061                        9.355

                    Table 4. Means and Standard Deviations of all Administrations



Sourceof          Sum of Squares               DF       Mean Square                  F         Significance
Vadation                                                                                       off
Main Effects             14762.725             75           196.836            12.698                   .000
Time                        60.469              3            20.156             1.300                   .276
Su~ects                  14707.905             72           204.276            13.178                   .000
Explained                14762.725             75           196.836            12.698                   .000
Residual                  2402.781            155            15.502
To~l                     17165.506            230            74.633
                                             Table 5. ANOVA Results

score is consistent, measures a single factor, and          and knowledge of a representative spectrum of
remains somewhat static. Moreover, means and                software applications.
standard deviations were stable over time..This
study also supports; the reliability of Webster and         The resulting stable trait characterization of the
Martocchio's (1992) operationalization of the               playfulness construct has important implications
playfulness construct. Their seven-item Computer            to both IS academics and researchers. Although
Playfulness Scale demonstrated internal con-                prior research associates playfulness with in-
sistency, unidimen:sionality, and temporal and              creased learning and performance, our research
situational stability as evidenced by Cronbach's            suggests that the stability of the playfulness trait
alpha, factor validity, and test-retest correlations.       will make attempts to manipulate individual play-
                                                            fulness unlikely to succeed. We would suggest
Previous researchers have suggested adapting                that the playfulness construct may best be
training methods based on trainee characteristics           accommodated by matching system and individual
(e.g., Bostrom, Olfman, & Sein, 1988; Bostrom,              playfulness.
Olfman, & Sein, 1990; Wexley, 1984). Past
studies of training methods have been incon-                MIS designers or trainers who wish to utilize the
clusive; and external effects of those methods on           playfulness trait should be able to do so by
training effectiveness were posited to depend on            performing a one-time playfulness assessment
other factors, including characteristic attributes of       rather than conducting longitudinal measures on
the trainees (Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992). More                individuals. This is good news both to prac-
research is needed to develop and understand                titioners who are trying to build effective systems
training method adaptations that best utilize the           and to researchers trying to further investigate the
stable trait nature of playfulness.                         playfulness construct. In particular, it greatly
                                                            simplifies playfulness experimental design as it
Contributions and Limitations of the Work                   renders individual playfulness traits stable rather
                                                            than dynamic.
This research supports the temporal stability and
situational consistency of the playfulness con-             The research limitations include those traditionally
struct. The subjects of this study demonstrated a           acknowledged in conjunction with the use of
marked stability in the playfulness trait as they           student subjects. More to the point, this research
gained experience in their computing environment            investigates the stability of the playfulness trait in


   48                 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
a training environment of intermediate duration       Bostrom, R. P., Olfman, L., and Sein, M. K.
(five weeks) and varying software to test stability       (1988). "End-User Computing: A Research
across situations. Further investigation is war-          Framework for Investigating the Train-
ranted into the stability of the playfulness trait        ing/Learning Process," Human Factors in
across longer periods (as might be encountered            Management Information Systems, Norwood,
by end-users of systems) and across alternative           NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
situations. For instance, training type and style     Bostrom, R. P., Olfman, L., and Sein, M I~
could influence individual playfulness.                  (1990). "The Importance of Learning Style in
                                                          End-User Training," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 14,
Further research should build on the stability of         No. 1, pp. 101-119.
the playfulness trait by examining the outcomes of    Buss, A. H. (1989). "Personality as Traits,"
manipulating playfulness in training. For instance,      American Psychologist, Vol. 44, pp. 1378-
the authors are currently using treatments                1388.
differing by playfulness items to investigate the     Compeau, D. R., and Higgins, C.A. (1995).
interaction between individuals' playfulness traits      "Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a
and the playfulness of the computing environment          Measure and Initial Test," MIS Quarterly, Vol.
in determining outcomes such as training satis-           19, No. 2, pp. 189-211.
faction, user satisfaction, and individual perfor-    Crano, W. D., and Brewer, M. B. (1973).
mance measures.                                          Principles of Research in Social Psychology,
Further research should be conducted into mech-           New York: McGraw-Hill.
anisms by which playfulness enhances training or      Cronbach, L. J. (1951). "Coefficient Alpha and
system performance. The proper matching of               the Internal Structure of Tests, ~ Psychometrika,
system and user playfulness to manipulate user           Vol. 16, pp. 297-334.
mood offers one interesting avenue of research.       Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond Boredom
A continuous stream of research has associated            and Anxiety, San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
mild mood elevation with enhanced creative            Eckblad, M., and Chapman, L. J.              (1986).
thinking (e.g., Richards, 1993; Eckblad & Chap-          "Development and Validation of a Scale for
man, 1986; Schuldberg, 1990), improved problem            Hypomanic Personality," Journal of Abnormal
solving (Greene & Noice, 1988), and better               Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 214-222.
comprehension of new concepts (Jamison, 1989).        Fajou, S. (1996). "Computer Anxiety," <http://-
Proper matching of system and/or training play-          www.edfac.usyd.edu.au/projects/comped/Fa-
fulness with individual playfulness characteristics      jou.html>
may offer an opportunity to manipulate user mood      Greene, T. R., and Noice, H. (1988). "Influence
with a potential outcome of better system per-           of Positive Affect Upon Creative Thinking and
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                                                         Reports, Vol. 63, pp. 895-898.
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    Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 12, pp.    a regional conference. She is an active par-
    1032-1048.                                         ticipant in graduate student issues at the de-
Schuldberg, D. (1990). "Schizotypal and Hypo-          partmental, college, university, and regional
    manic Traits, Creativity, and Psychological        levels. E-mail: yager@cobaf.unt.edu
    Health," Creativity Research Journal Vol. 3, pp.
    218-230.                                           Leon Kappelman, is an associate professor of
Starbuck, W. H., and Webster, J. (1991). "When         business computer information systems in the
    is Play Productive.'?" Accounting, Management,     College of Business Administration at the Univer-
    and Information Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.     sity of North Texas. His professional expertise
    71-90.                                             includes the management of information assets,
Stewart, G. L., Carson, K. P., and Cardy, R. L.        information systems development and main-
    (1996). "The Joint Effects of Conscien-            tenance, change management and technology
    tiousness and Self-Leadership Training on          transfer, project management, and information
     Employee Self-Directed Behavior in a Service      systems assessment and benchmarking. He has
     Setting," Personnel Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 1,   published dozens of articles and several books
     pp. 143-164.                                      including Solving the Year 2000 Problem: A Guide
Straub, D. W. (1989). "Validating Measurements         for Dragonslayers and Their Allies, International
     in MIS Research," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 13, No.     Thomson Computer Press (1997).
    2, pp. 147-169.                                    E-mail: kapp@unt.edu
Tannenbaum, S. I., and Yukl, G. (1992). "Training
     and Development in Work Organizations,"           Glenn Maples, is an associate professor at Our
     Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 43, pp.         Lady of the Lake University. He earned his Ph.D.
     399-441.                                          at the University of North Texas. His dissertation
Veenhoven, R. (1994). "Is Happiness a Trait?           examines quality measurement issues in informa-
     Tests of the Theory That a Better Society Does    tion systems. He is an ASQC Certified Quality
     Not Make People Any Happier," Social Indi-        Engineer. Active areas of research include MIS
     cators Research, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 101-160.     quality, database security and computation of
Webster, J., and Martocchio, J. J. (1992). "Micro-     control process standards.
     computer Playfulness: Development of a            E-mail: maplg@lake.ollusa.edu



    50                The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
Victor Prybutok is professor of management sci-
ence and the Director of the Center for Quality
and Productivity at the University of North Texas.
He is a Senior Member of the American Society
for Quality Control (ASQC), an ASQC Certified
Quality Engineer, and an ASQC Certified Quality
Auditor. He has published over 35 journal articles
and 50 proceedings in journals that include Oper-
ations Research, the American Statistician, Com-
munications in Statistics, and the Journal of Pro-
duction and Inventory Control.
E-mail: prybutok@unt.edu




The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)   51
Appendix

The following questions ask you how you would characterize yourself when using microcomputers. For each
adjective below, please circle the number on the answer sheet that best matches a description of yourself
when you interact with a microcomputer.

                    Strongly agree 1        2       3       4       5       6       7 Strongly Disagree

    Spontaneous                     1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Conscientious                   1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Unimaginative                   1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Experimenting                   1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Serious                         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Bored                           1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Flexible                        1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Mechanical                      1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Creative                        1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Erratic                         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Curious                         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Intellectually Stagnant         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Inquiring                       1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Routine                         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Playful                         1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Investigative                   1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Constrained                     1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Unoriginal                      1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Scrutinizing                    1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Uninventive                     1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Inquisitive                     1       2       3       4       5       6       7
    Questioning                     1       2       3       4       5       6       7




   52                The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)

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Playfulness Trait Stability Examined in Longitudinal Study

  • 1. Abstract Microcomputer Previous playfulness research has investigated Playfulness: playfulness as both state and trait phenomena. For example, Webster et aL (1993) examined flow, the state of playfulness in a specific human- Stable or i computer interaction, while Martocchio and Web- ster (1992) used a trait-based approach, con- sidering playfulness a characteristic of individuals. Dynamic Trait? This research extends the investigation of play- fulness as an individual trait by using a longitudinal study to examine its temporal and situational sta- Susan E. Yager bility. University of North Texas The Computer Playfulness Scale (Webster & Martocchio, 1992) was administered four times Leon A. Kappelman over the course of a five-week summer session to University of North Texas students enrolled in a computer-literacy course, once at the beginning of the class and then following completion of three milestones in the Glenn A. Maples course work. The playfulness instrument was University of North Texas assessed for internal consistency, unidimen- sionality, and temporal and situational stability. Victor R. Prybutok The evidence indicates that the measurement is University of North Texas reliable. The primary question of trait stability (stable versus dynamic) was examined in several ways, supporting the conclusion that playfulness is a stable trait. The implica~ons of these findings and suggested further research are discussed. Keywords: playfulness, longitudinal study, traits, cognitive playfulness, cognitive spontaneity, com- puter playfulness scale. ACM Categories: H.1.2, J.4, K.6.1 Introduction Increasingly, MIS designers are able to add "playful" items to systems. Flying toaster screen i savers, Porky Pig's voicing of audible cues, and desktops constructed in themes tied to Disney characters inhabit a growing number of comput- ers. Moreover, new multimedia capabilities and the advent of virtual reality offer new methods to further increase microcomputer playfulness. Con- current with these new playfulness-enhancing technologies, system designers have growing abilities to customize and individualize systems. i Increasingly sophisticated individual agents have begun to lurk in cyberspace. Application pack- ages and operating systems have almost univer- sally adopted user-adjustable graphical user inter- faces (GUIs) which are frequently customizable. These new capabilities underscore the need to understand better the role of playfulness in The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2) 43
  • 2. system design and training. Information systems conditions of personality traits are temporal sta- professionals face a critical issue in understand- bility and cross-situational consistency (e.g., ing when playfulness augments the learning or Veenhoven, 1994). operating of a system, when playfulness may serve as a distraction, and how the appropriate In the MIS literature, traits are defined as static use of playfulness may depend on individual and aspects of human information-processing charac- system differences. teristics affecting a broad range of variables (Bostrom, Olfman, & Sein, 1990). General traits Previous playfulness research has investigated refer to comparatively stable characteristics of playfulness as both state and trait phenomena. individuals that are relatively invariant to situ- For example, Webster et al. (1993) examined ational stimuli (Webster & Martocchio, 1992). flow, the state of playfulness in a specific human- Cognitive traits are based on processing prefer- computer interaction, while Martocchio and ences and include cognitive styles (Bostrom, Webster (1992) used a trait-based approach, OIfman, & Sein, 1990). The effect of individual considering playfulness a characteristic of indivi- traits on computer usage has a rich history in the duals. This research extends the investigation of IS literature, including recent work concentrating playfulness as an individual trait by using a on computer self-efficacy (e.g., Compeau & longitudinal study to examine its temporal and Higgins, 1995), computer anxiety (e.g., Fajou, situational stability. 1996), and conscientiousness (e.g., Stewart, Carson, & Cardy, 1996). Background MIS professionals seeking to match both the The importance of individual differences in the systems and the training methods for these design and operation of information systems can systems to individual differences should not only be traced to the earliest frameworks of information consider differences among individuals but also systems. For example, "an information system whether these differences are dynamic. In par- consists of, at least, a PERSON of a certain ticular, professionals should consider whether PSYCHOLOGICAL T Y P E . . . "(Mason & Mitroff, users' attitudes or behaviors might change as they 1972, p. 475) is one of the earliest frameworks for gain exposure to a system. If the individual traits defining information systems. In addition to other are not stable (either temporally or situationally), effects psychological types or traits have, indi- the problem of matching these traits to system vidual differences may affect users' learning about characteristics becomes decidedly more difficult. new software; and some researchers perceive a critical need to match training methods to these individual differences (e.g., Bostrom, Olfman, & Cognitive Playfulness Sein, 1990). Playfulness is considered a multi-faceted con- Over the last ten years, psychologists seeking to struct, encompassing five dimensions: cognitive explain individual differences in personality and spontaneity, social spontaneity, physical spon- behavior increasingly subscribe to trait theories. taneity, manifest joy, and sense of humor (Barnett, Furthermore, the most popular of these psycho- 1990; Barnett, 1991; Lieberman, 1977). These logical trait theories is the five factor model (FFM). five dimensions are illustrated as follows: cog- This personality model (based on the dimensions nitive spontaneity is the imaginative play of young of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agree- children and the combinatorial play of creative ableness, and conscientiousness) is charac- adults; social spontaneity is the ability to be terized as "a basic discovery" (McCrae & John, comfortable in a group setting and to move freely 1992), the basis for the field of personality and in and out of such a social structure; physical individual differences (Buss, 1989), and sufficient spontaneity is evident in unstructured play to characterize both normal and abnormal activities such as jumping rope; manifest joy bears behavior (Widiger, 1993). However, despite the different labels such as pleasure and happiness; general acceptance of trait theory as key in and sense of humor results from surprising, understanding human behavior, there is no incongruous, or novel events, whether the in- generally accepted definition of the term "per- dividual is the producer or the consumer sonality trait." Personality traits are generally (Lieberman, 1977). In recent publications and for thought of as long-.term predispositions to certain this study, cognitive spontaneity in human-com- behaviors or attitudes. Two generally accepted puter interactions is considered a surrogate for 44 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
  • 3. "cognitive playfulness" (Martocchio & Webster, The Study 1992). Cognitive playfulness has been studied as a trait that influences ease of microcomputer use Subjects and Measures and resultant learning. "Employees higher in cog- nitive playfulness demonstrated higher test The subjects were volunteer undergraduate performance and more positive affective out- students enrolled in a computer-literacy course at comes than those lower in cognitive playfulness" a moderately large southwestern university and (Martocchio & Webster, 1992, p. 553). In addi- received course credit for their participation. Each tion, those higher in playfulness are expected to of seventy-seven subjects was asked to complete exercise and develop skills through exploratory four iterations of Webster and Martocchio's (1992) behaviors (Miller, 1973), resulting in improved Computer Playfulness Survey instrument (see the performance or increased learning (Martocchio & Appendix) over a five-week summer session, once Webster, 1992). at the beginning of the course and again following the completion of three milestones in the course There are, however, potential drawbacks of work. The administrations are referred to as 1) playfulness, such as requiring a longer time to initial administration, a baseline on the first day of complete tasks (Sandelands, 1988), over-involve- class; 2) Windows, following introduction to and ment (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), and increased project completion using the Microsoft Windows opportunities for non-productive play (Nash, operating environment; 3) Word, following intro- 1990). Organizations must be aware that playful- duction to and project completion using Microsoft ness may result in wasted time; but it may also Word; and 4) Excel, following introduction to and result in more effective, more productive, and project completion using Microsoft Excel. higher-quality results (Starbuck & Webster, 1991 ). Computer Playfulness Scale The playfulness score was determined by adding together (i.e., a linear sum) the responses of each The Computer Playfulness Scale (CPS) de- individual for the seven items identified by Web- veloped by Webster and Martocchio (1992) is a ster and Martocchio (1992) as comprising the self-reported instrument. It is designed to mea- playfulness construct: spontaneous, unimagin- sure microcomputer playfulness, a situation- ative, flexible, creative, playful, unoriginal, and specific individual characteristic which represents uninventive. This was done after adjusting for the the degree of cognitive spontaneity in micro- three items that were reverse-scored, compen- computer interactions (Webster & Martocchio, sating for yea-saying or nay-saying individuals 1992). Furthermore, microcomputer playfulness who have a more or less global tendency to agree demonstrates higher predictive efficacy for train- or disagree (Alreck & Settle, 1995). ing effectiveness (learning or understanding), compared to previously utilized computer anxiety Two primary goals of this research were to test and computer attitudes (Webster & Martocchio, the temporal stability and situational consistency 1992). Test-retest reliability has proven strong of the playfulness construct. Psychologists (correlation .85, p<.001) in previous studies using evaluating the temporal stability of other person- the CPS (Webster & Martocchio, 1992). ality traits have selected periods as short as several days or as long as several years in The Problem evaluating trait stability. Since the focus of this research was playfulness during microcomputer Because of the growing ability to manipulate the training, a five-week training period was used. In playfulness of computer systems and training, the addition to being similar in length to other trait Computer Playfulness Scale measure represents studies (e.g., Stewart, Carson, & Cardy, 1996), a potentially powerful tool allowing system design- this period meets or exceeds the length of time of ers to address the interaction of system and training in most industry training environments. individual playfulness. However, before system designers can accommodate the construct of play- End-user microcomputer training is subject to fulness, its trait nature must be more fully ex- constraints that make microcomputer playfulness plored. In particular, this research seeks to estab- less subject to environmental variation than many lish the temporal stability and situational consis- other personality constructs. One of the most tency of the playfulness construct. important variants in computer training is task, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2) 45
  • 4. more specifically the type of software to be playfulness scores over time or across situations. learned. Three of the most common software First this hypothesis was tested by examining the groups are operating systems, word processing, correlations among scores obtained by the same and spreadsheets (e.g., Jones & Berry, 1995). person on multiple administrations of the same This research tests across these software groups instrument (Anastasi, 1988). This is the same as cross-situational variables. statistical procedure used to perform test-retest reliability of instruments. Reliability coefficient (r) Instrument Reliabillity: Intemal Consistency values of at least 0.70 indicate that the results are and Unidimensionality stable over time (Litwin, 1995). However, caution must be exercised when interpreting these results. Internal consistency for the seven-item play- Practice effect may falsely inflate the correlations fulness instrument was assessed with Cronbach's (Litwin, 1995). As individuals become familiar (1951) coefficient alpha, "probably the best es- with the items on a survey, they may simply an- timate of internal consistency" (Crano & Brewer, swer based on their memory of how they 1973, p. 230). The results are shown in Table 1 answered previously (Litwin, 1995). The length of below. Based on the greater than 0.80 rule-of- the instrument, which included at least three other thumb (Crano & Brewer, 1973; Nunnally, 1978; instruments in each administration, was designed Blau, 1988), these coefficients indicate that the in part to minimize this problem. seven-item playfulness instrument appears to have high internal consistency. Test-retest reli- To confirm further that the learning effect was not ability was also examined and is discussed under a serious threat to the experiment, the authors hypothesis testing. analyzed the change in variance by individuals across administrations. In the event of a sig- Another method for assessing internal consis- nificant learning bias, one would expect de- tency is to determine whether items "share only creasing variance as answers became ~more pat" one common focus" (Crano & Brewer, 1973, p. (that is, individual's responses would increasingly 231). The unidimensionality of the scale was mirror the previous set of responses). The data evaluated by means of the factorial validity showed a slight increase in variance from the first (Kappelman, 1995) of the seven-item scale using inter-item variance measure (based on individual the SPSS/PC+ FACTOR procedure (SPSS, Inc., differences between administrations 1 and 2) to 1993). Each of the four administrations of the the last (based on differences between admin- playfulness instrument resulted in all seven items istrations 3 and 4). Although this analysis does loading on e single factor. The first eigenvalues, not preclude a learning effect between the first percent of variance explained by the first eigen- and second administrations, in the opinion of the value, ratio of the first eigenvalue to the second, authors if such an effect was significant it would and range of factor Ioadings are shown in Table 2 likely increase in subsequent administrations. for each administration. Eigenvalues (3.888 to Thus, learning effect did not appear to be a sig- 5.143) and percent of variance (55.5% to 73.5%) nificant threat to this investigation. are relatively large for all of the four adminis- trations, indicating a consistently high percentage These reliability coefficients between adminis- of variance explained by the first factor. The ratio trations of the same instrument represent cor- of the first to the second eigenvalues is also relations between the linear sums. Since it may substantial, ranging from 4.260:1 to 7.649:1. The be possible for two consecutive administrations to factor loading should attain a minimum of 0.50 exhibit little difference while cumulative dif- (Straub, 1989) to be considered as part of a ferences over several administrations may indi- factor. Each of the administrations surpasses that cate a substantial difference, each result was level on all seven items. Unidimensionality is compared with all other administrations (see supported by these results, especially by the large Table 3). The playfulness scores remained factor Ioadings. substantively invariant across the four adminis- Hypothesis Testing trations, supporting the stable trait charac- terization of the playfulness construct. Previous research has stated that playfulness is a trait. This study tested the hypothesis that play- The correlations appeared to weaken between fulness is a trait and there will be no change in non-consecutive administrations over time, 46 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
  • 5. Administration Cronbach's Alpha Initial (n = 60) .9029 Windows (n = 62) .8825 Word (n = 60) .8656 Excel (n = 49) .9383 Table 1. Intemal Consistency Coefficients Administration Eigenvalue Percent of Ratio of Range of Factor Variance First:Second Loadings Initial 4.454 63.6 5.643:1 .65400 - .90428 Windows 4.182 59.7 4.377:1 .61597 -. 85471 Word 3.888 55.5 4.260:1 .70640 -. 81484 Excel 5.143 73.5 7.649:1 .68962 - .88752 Table 2. Evidence of Unidimensionality (Factor Analysis) Administration Correlation Significance Initial with Windows (n = 52) .842 .000 Initial with Word (n = 50) .767 .000 Initial with Excel (n = 41 ) .669 .000 Windows with Word (n = 54) .822 .000 Windows with Excel (n = 45) .783 .000 Word with Excel (n = 44) .901 .000 Table 3. Correlations between Administrations bringing into question either the test-retest that the results were changing. If the playfulness reliability over short time periods or raising the trait is dynamic, one would expect to see changes possibility that playfulness is dynamic and not a occur over time. However, if it is stable, one stable trait. Comparisons were made of the means would expect to see the effect by subject. The and standard deviations (see Table 4) using a participants themselves (SUBJECTS) accounted one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and no for the variance (F = 13.178, p = .000), while significant difference in playfulness was found for different administrations (TIME) did not have a any of the four administrations (p = 0.867). These significant effect (F = 1.300, p = 0.276). The vari- results indicate that playfulness meets both of the ation in an individual's results can be attributed to stability requirements for personality traits - the individual's playfulness trait, not the timing of stability across both time and situations. the administration. To test the playfulness-as-stable-trait hypothesis, Conclusions a two-way ANOVA (see Table 5) was computed to The results of this longitudinal study indicate that determine whether it was by subject or by time playfulness is a stable trait. The playfulness The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems w Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2) 47
  • 6. Administration N Mean St. Dev. Initial 60 21.767 9.039 Windows 62 22.339 8.248 Word 60 22.250 8.171 Excel 49 21.061 9.355 Table 4. Means and Standard Deviations of all Administrations Sourceof Sum of Squares DF Mean Square F Significance Vadation off Main Effects 14762.725 75 196.836 12.698 .000 Time 60.469 3 20.156 1.300 .276 Su~ects 14707.905 72 204.276 13.178 .000 Explained 14762.725 75 196.836 12.698 .000 Residual 2402.781 155 15.502 To~l 17165.506 230 74.633 Table 5. ANOVA Results score is consistent, measures a single factor, and and knowledge of a representative spectrum of remains somewhat static. Moreover, means and software applications. standard deviations were stable over time..This study also supports; the reliability of Webster and The resulting stable trait characterization of the Martocchio's (1992) operationalization of the playfulness construct has important implications playfulness construct. Their seven-item Computer to both IS academics and researchers. Although Playfulness Scale demonstrated internal con- prior research associates playfulness with in- sistency, unidimen:sionality, and temporal and creased learning and performance, our research situational stability as evidenced by Cronbach's suggests that the stability of the playfulness trait alpha, factor validity, and test-retest correlations. will make attempts to manipulate individual play- fulness unlikely to succeed. We would suggest Previous researchers have suggested adapting that the playfulness construct may best be training methods based on trainee characteristics accommodated by matching system and individual (e.g., Bostrom, Olfman, & Sein, 1988; Bostrom, playfulness. Olfman, & Sein, 1990; Wexley, 1984). Past studies of training methods have been incon- MIS designers or trainers who wish to utilize the clusive; and external effects of those methods on playfulness trait should be able to do so by training effectiveness were posited to depend on performing a one-time playfulness assessment other factors, including characteristic attributes of rather than conducting longitudinal measures on the trainees (Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992). More individuals. This is good news both to prac- research is needed to develop and understand titioners who are trying to build effective systems training method adaptations that best utilize the and to researchers trying to further investigate the stable trait nature of playfulness. playfulness construct. In particular, it greatly simplifies playfulness experimental design as it Contributions and Limitations of the Work renders individual playfulness traits stable rather than dynamic. This research supports the temporal stability and situational consistency of the playfulness con- The research limitations include those traditionally struct. The subjects of this study demonstrated a acknowledged in conjunction with the use of marked stability in the playfulness trait as they student subjects. More to the point, this research gained experience in their computing environment investigates the stability of the playfulness trait in 48 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
  • 7. a training environment of intermediate duration Bostrom, R. P., Olfman, L., and Sein, M. K. (five weeks) and varying software to test stability (1988). "End-User Computing: A Research across situations. Further investigation is war- Framework for Investigating the Train- ranted into the stability of the playfulness trait ing/Learning Process," Human Factors in across longer periods (as might be encountered Management Information Systems, Norwood, by end-users of systems) and across alternative NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. situations. For instance, training type and style Bostrom, R. P., Olfman, L., and Sein, M I~ could influence individual playfulness. (1990). "The Importance of Learning Style in End-User Training," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 14, Further research should build on the stability of No. 1, pp. 101-119. the playfulness trait by examining the outcomes of Buss, A. H. (1989). "Personality as Traits," manipulating playfulness in training. For instance, American Psychologist, Vol. 44, pp. 1378- the authors are currently using treatments 1388. differing by playfulness items to investigate the Compeau, D. R., and Higgins, C.A. (1995). interaction between individuals' playfulness traits "Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a and the playfulness of the computing environment Measure and Initial Test," MIS Quarterly, Vol. in determining outcomes such as training satis- 19, No. 2, pp. 189-211. faction, user satisfaction, and individual perfor- Crano, W. D., and Brewer, M. B. (1973). mance measures. Principles of Research in Social Psychology, Further research should be conducted into mech- New York: McGraw-Hill. anisms by which playfulness enhances training or Cronbach, L. J. (1951). "Coefficient Alpha and system performance. The proper matching of the Internal Structure of Tests, ~ Psychometrika, system and user playfulness to manipulate user Vol. 16, pp. 297-334. mood offers one interesting avenue of research. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond Boredom A continuous stream of research has associated and Anxiety, San Francisco: Josey-Bass. mild mood elevation with enhanced creative Eckblad, M., and Chapman, L. J. (1986). thinking (e.g., Richards, 1993; Eckblad & Chap- "Development and Validation of a Scale for man, 1986; Schuldberg, 1990), improved problem Hypomanic Personality," Journal of Abnormal solving (Greene & Noice, 1988), and better Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 214-222. comprehension of new concepts (Jamison, 1989). Fajou, S. (1996). "Computer Anxiety," <http://- Proper matching of system and/or training play- www.edfac.usyd.edu.au/projects/comped/Fa- fulness with individual playfulness characteristics jou.html> may offer an opportunity to manipulate user mood Greene, T. R., and Noice, H. (1988). "Influence with a potential outcome of better system per- of Positive Affect Upon Creative Thinking and formance. Problem Solving in Children," Psychological Reports, Vol. 63, pp. 895-898. References Jamison, K. R. (1989). "Mood Disorders and Patterns of Creativity in British Writers and Alreck, P. L., and Settle, R. B. (1995). The Artists," Psychiatry, Vol. 52, pp. 125-134. Survey Research Handbook (2nd edition), Jones, M.C., and Berry, R. L. (1995). "Infor- Chicago: Irwin Professional Publishing. mation Technology: An Assessment of Student Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological Testing (eth Perceptions," Journal of Computer Information edition), New York: Macmillan Publishing Com- Systems, Summer, pp. 28-32. pany. Kappelman, L . A . (1995). "Measuring User Barnett, L. A. (1990). "Playfulness: Definition, Involvement: A Diffusion of Innovation Per- Design, and Measurement," Play and Culture, spective," DATABASE Advances, Vol. 26, No. Vol. 3, pp. 319-336. 2 and 3, pp. 65-83. Barnett, L . A . (1991). "The Playful Child: Lieberman, J. N. (1977). Playfulness, NewYork: Measurement of a Disposition to Play," Play Academic Press. and Culture, Vol. 4, pp. 51-74. Litwin, M. S. (1995). How to Measure Survey Blau, G. J. (1988). "Further Exploring the Reliability and Validity, Vol. 7, The Survey Kit, Meaning and Measurement of Career Com- Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. mitment," Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. Martocchio, J. J., and Webster, J. (1992). "Effects 32, pp. 284-297. of Feedback and Cognitive Playfulness on The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2) 49
  • 8. Performance in Microcomputer Software Measure with Workplace Implications," MIS Training," Personnel Psychology, Vol. 45, No. Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 201-226. 2, pp. 553-578. Webster, J., Trevino, L. K., and Ryan, L. (1993). Mason, R. O., and Mitroff, I. I. (1973). "A "The Dimensionality and Correlates of Flow in Program for Research on Management Infor- Human-Computer Interactions," Computers in mation Systems," Management Science, Vol. Human Behavior, Vol. 9, pp. 411-426. 19, No. 5, pp. 475-487. Wexley, K. N. (1984). "Personnel Training," McCrae, R R., and John, O. P. (1992). "An Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 35, pp. Introduction to the Five Factor Model and Its 519-551. Applications," Journal of Personality, Vol. 60, Widiger, T. A. (1993). "The DSM-III-R Categor- 175-215. ical Personality Disorder Diagnoses: A Critique Miller, S. (1973). "Ends, Means, and Galum- and an Alternative," Psychological Inquiry, Vol. phing: Some Leitmotifs of Play," American 4, pp. 75-90. Anthropologist, Vol. 75, pp. 87-98. Nash, J. E. (1990). "Working at and Working: About the Authors Computer Fritters," Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 201-225. Susan Yager is a Ph.D. student in the Business Nunnally, J. (1978). Psychometric Theory(2nd Computer Information Systems Department, Col- edition), New York: McGraw-Hill. lege of Business Administration, University of Richards, R. (1993). "Seeing Beyond: Issues of North Texas. Her dissertation research focuses Creative Awareness and Social Respon- on the use of technology to enable virtual organi- sibility," Creativity Research Journal, Vol. 6, zations. In addition to her twenty years of industry pp. 165-183. experience, she has taught information systems Sandelands, L. E. (1988). "Effects of Work and courses, served as an academic advisor and Play Signals on Task Evaluation," Journal of mentor, and was co-editor of the proceedings for Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 12, pp. a regional conference. She is an active par- 1032-1048. ticipant in graduate student issues at the de- Schuldberg, D. (1990). "Schizotypal and Hypo- partmental, college, university, and regional manic Traits, Creativity, and Psychological levels. E-mail: yager@cobaf.unt.edu Health," Creativity Research Journal Vol. 3, pp. 218-230. Leon Kappelman, is an associate professor of Starbuck, W. H., and Webster, J. (1991). "When business computer information systems in the is Play Productive.'?" Accounting, Management, College of Business Administration at the Univer- and Information Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. sity of North Texas. His professional expertise 71-90. includes the management of information assets, Stewart, G. L., Carson, K. P., and Cardy, R. L. information systems development and main- (1996). "The Joint Effects of Conscien- tenance, change management and technology tiousness and Self-Leadership Training on transfer, project management, and information Employee Self-Directed Behavior in a Service systems assessment and benchmarking. He has Setting," Personnel Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 1, published dozens of articles and several books pp. 143-164. including Solving the Year 2000 Problem: A Guide Straub, D. W. (1989). "Validating Measurements for Dragonslayers and Their Allies, International in MIS Research," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. Thomson Computer Press (1997). 2, pp. 147-169. E-mail: kapp@unt.edu Tannenbaum, S. I., and Yukl, G. (1992). "Training and Development in Work Organizations," Glenn Maples, is an associate professor at Our Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 43, pp. Lady of the Lake University. He earned his Ph.D. 399-441. at the University of North Texas. His dissertation Veenhoven, R. (1994). "Is Happiness a Trait? examines quality measurement issues in informa- Tests of the Theory That a Better Society Does tion systems. He is an ASQC Certified Quality Not Make People Any Happier," Social Indi- Engineer. Active areas of research include MIS cators Research, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 101-160. quality, database security and computation of Webster, J., and Martocchio, J. J. (1992). "Micro- control process standards. computer Playfulness: Development of a E-mail: maplg@lake.ollusa.edu 50 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)
  • 9. Victor Prybutok is professor of management sci- ence and the Director of the Center for Quality and Productivity at the University of North Texas. He is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), an ASQC Certified Quality Engineer, and an ASQC Certified Quality Auditor. He has published over 35 journal articles and 50 proceedings in journals that include Oper- ations Research, the American Statistician, Com- munications in Statistics, and the Journal of Pro- duction and Inventory Control. E-mail: prybutok@unt.edu The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - - Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2) 51
  • 10. Appendix The following questions ask you how you would characterize yourself when using microcomputers. For each adjective below, please circle the number on the answer sheet that best matches a description of yourself when you interact with a microcomputer. Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Disagree Spontaneous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Conscientious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unimaginative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Experimenting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Serious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bored 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Flexible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mechanical 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Creative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Erratic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Curious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Intellectually Stagnant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Inquiring 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Routine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Playful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Investigative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Constrained 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unoriginal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Scrutinizing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Uninventive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Inquisitive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Questioning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 52 The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems-- Spring 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 2)