The development of a measure of subjective computer experience Brooke Smith a , Peter Caputi a, * , Patrick Rawstorne b a Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia b University of New South Wales, Australia Available online 12 May 2004 Abstract The present study examined the psychometric properties of a recently developed measure of sub- jective computer experience using a sample of 179 first year psychology students. The Subjective Computer Experience Scale (SCES) was developed to measure the construct of subjective computer experience, defined for present purposes, as a private psychological state reflecting the thoughts and feelings a person ascribes to some previous or existing computing event. Factor analysis revealed five factors that were labelled, Frustration–Anxiety, Autonomy–Assistance, Training–Education, Enjoy- ment–Usefulness and Negative Performance Appraisal, respectively. Acceptable internal-consistency estimates of the five subscales were obtained. Convergent validity was evidenced by significant cor- relations between the SCES and measures of computer attitude and objective computer experience. Evidence for divergent validity was obtained with scores on four of the five subscales of the SCES being unrelated to dispositional coping style. In sum, the SCES was found to have promise as a psy- chometrically sound instrument for measuring subjective computer experience. Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Subjective computer experience; Measurement 1. Introduction An important construct addressed in computer-behaviour research is that of computer experience (Kay, 1992). However, what constitutes ‘‘computer experience’’ has not always 0747-5632/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2004.04.001 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: pcaputi@uow.edu.au (P. Caputi). Computers in Human Behavior 23 (2007) 127–145 www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh Computers in Human Behavior