Introduction
This study highlights how people perceive and react to technological change by introducing a model that investigates the connection between IT identity work and cognitive dissonance.
Purpose
Was to find out how South African academics cope with growing demands on their use of technology in their work and in their daily lives.
Method
A qualitative methodology was used where 30 South African academics were interviewed using in-depth interviews using purposive sampling. Grounded theory was used to explaining the results of the study and to develop the model.
Results
A model was developed for the intensity of IT identity work, depicting three different intensity levels - low, moderate and high. The process of engaging in these different levels of intensity is not unidirectional from low through moderate to high. Instead, the direction of change in intensity varies with the ebb and flow of cognitive dissonance experienced, increasing when the individual confronts new technological challenges and subsiding when they are mastered. Low intensity signifies IT identity formation in childhood through schooling and at home. Moderate intensity signifies quick changes needed to adapt one's current IT identity, for example, learning how to use a new computer programme. High intensity signifies cognitive dissonance experiences due to forced changes in the environment, for example the COVID-19 pandemic as well as getting use to the imminent 4th industrial revolution and use of AI in our daily lives.
Conclusion
The focus of this study was on the IT identity work academics engage in upon experiencing cognitive dissonance when forced to use unfamiliar technology in their daily work activities. The overarching research purpose was to establish a model on the identity work academics engaged in as well as the intensity of their identity work.