Similarities and differences between genders in the usage of computer with different levels of technological complexity

Research on technology usage and acceptance has demonstrated that women and men use technology differently, and also differ in their self-perception regarding technology (e.g., women see themselves as less capable). Gender role beliefs, according to which women are expected to be less interested in and less capable of using technologies than men, have been discussed as one major reason for these differences. Such differing attributions of women and men can induce negative experiences in terms of negative feelings and can reinforce the feelings of uncertainty experienced by women. We therefore assume that the usage of technology, especially with increasing complexity, may induce more negative experiences in women than in men. We conducted a 2 (male, female) x 3 (technological complexity) between -subjects lab experiment (N = 148) to examine the interaction between technological complexity and users' gender. The analyses revealed that women and men differ in the perception of their technological capabilities, but not in goal achievement. Additionally, we found slight gender differences concerning positive affect, but not concerning negative affect, depending on technologies' complexity.