Information technology users studies of self-efficacy and creativity among Swedish newspaper journalists

Abstract: Undoubtedly, there are many factors influencing IT-usage at work; some of them are psychological. The thesis provides new knowledge about the connections between three phenomena: IT-usage, self-efficacy and creativity among Swedish news journalists. The dissertation also contributes new knowledge about the mechanisms of self-efficacy in IT-related work.The first objective was to explore psychological factors’ influence on how, when and why IT is used at work. In particular, the investigation aimed to study the role of self-efficacy in IT-usage. The second objective was to examine the relationship between IT-usage and creativity. Of specific interest was whether journalists perceive IT-technologies as a support or an obstacle.The empirical findings of four studies show a complex picture. Variation in IT-usage and communication at work is explained by factors as attitudes, experience of IT-usage, interest in traditional journalistic work, and IT-specific self-efficacy. Furthermore, the results reveal that both generalized work self-efficacy and IT-usage at work are related to perceived creativity among news journalists.