The Chaotic Behavior of ICT Users

Abstract

This paper describes how chaos theory was implemented to explain a behavioral aspect in an information system. The chaos theory was developed from the physical sciences and has been widely applied to many fields. However, this theory may also be applied to the social sciences. For certain types of human behavior, the chaos theory could comprehensively explain the phenomena of the use of information and communications technology (ICT). It means that this theory could clarify all the different kinds of human interactions with ICT. When the researchers used the chaos theory integratively, they could explain the distressed behavior of ICT users comprehensively. This theory argues that an individual acts randomly, even though the system is deterministic. When individuals use ICT, they could get technostress due to either the information systems or other users. This paper explains that ICT users could use information systems, with their complicated procedures and outputs. They were also probably disturbed by other users. The users, furthermore, experience chaotic pressures through their experiential values. This paper shows that users’ behavior when facing chaotic pressure depends upon their personality dimensions. The authors finally propose a new paradigm that this chaos theory could explain the chaotic actions of ICT users.