Studying the Role of Human Nature in Technology Acceptance

Humans are complex, evolved, social and cognitive beings. Thus, understanding their behavior is a complex task that requires a comprehensive theoretical repertoire. In this paper, we study the role of human nature in technology acceptance. We come to understand that by expanding our theoretical ontology and blending theories of evolutionary psychology, social, and cognitive psychology into a single frame, we gain a more comprehensive view that helps to better explain what drives humans to form reactions toward technology and to exhibit various usage behaviors. We situate the study in four different hospital settings using a case study method. By examining acceptance of mobile information technology (MICT) amongst nurses, we find that human nature in form of four drives has a bearing on technology acceptance and use in a manner that has not been adequately addressed in traditional IS literature.