Digitalisation anxiety: development and validation of a new scale

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Digital technologies are pervasive, influencing daily life, work, and communication.
• This digital transformation can induce psychological tension and discomfort, termed digitalisation anxiety.
• Existing measures inadequately capture the multifaceted nature of this anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a German version of the Digitalisation Anxiety Scale (DAS).
• To provide a reliable instrument for measuring digitalisation anxiety across individual, organizational, and societal levels.
• To explore the correlates of digitalisation anxiety, including its relationship with well-being and performance.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative interviews (Study 1) to generate scale items.
• Psychometric validation including factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity (Study 2a), and test-retest reliability (Study 2b).
• Confirmatory factor analysis and correlational analyses in a larger sample (Study 3).

Main Results:

• The final 35-item DAS exhibits a robust four-factor structure: societal triggers, interaction/leadership triggers, internal triggers, and implementation process triggers.
• Digitalisation anxiety demonstrated significant negative correlations with well-being and performance.
• The scale proved reliable and valid for measuring digitalisation anxiety.

Conclusions:

• The validated DAS offers a precise tool for researchers and practitioners to assess digitalisation anxiety.
• Findings highlight the detrimental impact of digitalisation anxiety on individual well-being and performance.
• The scale can guide the development of interventions to mitigate digitalisation anxiety and related stress.