Positive and negative psychological states in self-paced technology training

Abstract

Industry reports continue to highlight the importance and growth of e-learning. However, researcher, trainers, and trainees all agree that such training has significantly higher levels of anxiety compared to traditional learning. Thus, anxiety is one of the most important impediments in online learning because it can significantly negatively impact training outcomes. On the other hand, researchers and practitioners have not focused on the positive psychological state of process satisfaction from the training process. This paper presents a research model that reframes the dominant theory in technology training (i.e., socio-cognitive theory) and its impact on learning, which includes the impact of perceived anxiety and process satisfaction in a team-based self-paced online technology-training context. Results of the empirical study show that verbal persuasion structures can reduce perceived anxiety and increase process satisfaction and, thus, improve training outcomes. The results also show that verbal persuasion has an indirect effect on outcomes rather than a direct effect as socio-cognitive theory conceptualizes. The paper presents theoretical and practical implications for researchers, trainers, and designers.