Computers: The new punching bags

Brighton, April 1: Ever start screaming in frustration at your unresponsive PC? The simple fact that computers can't talk back makes it easier to yell at an inanimate object than a flesh-and-blood person, adding to the “computer rage”.

This new phenomenon is a growing problem. In the workplace and at home, more and more people are smashing their computer screens, beating on the keyboard, and throwing the computer out the window. People are taking out their frustrations on their computer equipment to vent out the pent up fury.

A study by the University of Bolton found that computer rage is now an everyday expression of anger. Researchers dwelt on a condition identified as “computer rage”. They found that more than half of Britons take out their frustration on their computer equipment.

Psychologists conducted an exploratory study of 126 workers in UK to get to the bottom of the problem. The questionnaire revealed that more than 10 percent people went ballistic with "computer rage" around 10 times in a month.

The rest of the workers disclosed that they ‘hit the ceiling’ three or four times each month. Around 54 percent of people admitted to have verbally assaulted their computers, while 40 percent had resorted to physically attacking the equipment.

Though the computer rage phenomenon can cause millions of dollars of damage annually to company, government, or personal property, experts advocate venting out the anger in safe and controlled ways rather than bottling up feelings of aggression.

Lead researcher John Charlton from the University of Bolton stated, “Although the study did not look at health factors, habitual, unrestrained expression of anger is known to be a significant cause of ill-health.”

Users’ frustration with information and computing technology is a pervasive and persistent problem. When computers crash, network congestion causes delays, a virus infects your email, the computer freezes or the hard drive fails when you haven't backed up, it triggers confusion with many flying into a rage. People swearing or screaming at and hitting their computers have now become familiar with everyday expression of anger.

Dr Charlton said: "People might become particularly angry with computers when they don't respond in the way that we expect them to, or as quickly as we expect them to, because we apply the same unwritten rules that exist when we communicate with other people to the computer, and the computer is breaking these rules."

"No matter how much we scream and shout, the computer just sits there looking at us," Charlton added. "So this can cause our frustration and anger to escalate. However, moderate outbursts of anger, in the form of shouting at a computer might actually be beneficial."

The University of Bolton's computer rage study will be presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference.