Technophobia

Frankenstein is one of the early examples of Technophobia. This image shows Boris Karloff who played Frankenstein, in the 1930s.

Technophobia is the fear, or dislike, of more advanced technical devices. Technophobia has occurred since the Industrial Revolution. Very often, artists show technophobia in their works. Two examples of this are Frankenstein, and the movie Metropolis. The Luddites were a movement of textile workers who fought against the use of machines, in the 19th century.

Technophobia in anabaptist groups

Anabaptist groups, such as the Amish or the Mennionites are often shown as being against all modern technology. This image is false, and largely relies on ignorance. These groups are not technophobic, they simply judge the technologies they use: if the technology is useful for the group as a whole, and it does not pose a risk in making the group fall apart, the technology is usually kept. As an example, tractors are used, because they help with agriculture. Cars, on the other hand, are often not used, because they help drive the community apart.

Occurrence

In a study, done between 1992 and 1994 University students in different countries were asked if they were technophobic:[1][2] Among the 3.392 participants in the United States, 29% identified as strongly technophobic.[3] As a comparison, 58% of the Japanese pariicipants identified as technophobic, in India, the number was 82%, and in Mexico, it was 53%.[3]

Technophobia Media

References

  1. Matthieu Guitton: Computers in Human Behavior Elsevier, accessed 5 July 2018.
  2. Weil, Michelle M.; Rosen, Lah rry D. (March 1995). "The psychological impact of technology from a global perspective: A study of technological sophistication and technophobia in university students from twenty-three countries". Computers in Human Behavior. 11 (1): 95–133. doi:10.1016/0747-5632(94)00026-E.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Weil, Michelle M.; Rosen, Larry D. (1995). "A Study of Technological Sophistication and Technophobia in University Students From 23 Countries". Computers in Human Behavior. 11 (1): 95–133. doi:10.1016/0747-5632(94)00026-E. Table 2. Percentage of Students in each country who possessed high levels of technophobia; several points are worth noting from Table 2. First, a group of countries including Indonesia, Poland, India, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Mexico and Thailand show large percentages (over 50 %) of technophobic students. In contrast, there are five countries which show under 30 % technophobes (USA, Yugoslavia - Croatia, Singapore, Israel and Hungary). The remaining countries were in between these two groupings.