Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Crawford, Elizabeth K.; Miller, Ted L.; O'Brien, Elizabeth R.

Department

Dept. of Education

College

College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Some individuals and groups seem to adopt emerging ideas and innovations more readily than others. Since any emerging innovation or technology inherently comes with a higher degree of uncertainty and risk, the group or individual must deal with the anxiety created by innovative behavior. Individuals who are less anxious and risk averse may tend to adopt innovations more easily than others. Within any social group, individuals can be classified into adopter categories based on their rate of adoption and capacity for risk and anxiety. Individuals who are more susceptible to anxiety in general, may seek the emotional scaffolding of their organizational group to support innovative behavior. This may be especially true in healthcare where contextual stress is heightened due to the emotional weight of decisions that greatly affect the well-being of others. Bowen Family Systems Theory has been used in family systems psychology to describe the systemic effects of group anxiety on the individual, an outcome referred to as differentiation. This study investigated if there was any relationship between emotional differentiation and technology readiness among allied health professionals. The Workplace Differentiation Inventory (WDI) and the Technology Readiness Index-2.0 (TRI-2.0) were the instruments used to measure both attributes. The statistical analysis explored the correlation and regression of the various sub-attributes of each measure as well as demographic attributes using a sample population derived from the orthotic and prosthetic allied healthcare profession.

Degree

Ph. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Date

12-2016

Subject

Bowenian family therapy; Differentiation (Sociology); Medical technology; Medical innovations

Keyword

Innovation, Emotional, Differentiation, Anxiety, Technology, Readiness

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xvi, 222 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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