3. Applying Evolutionary Psychology to the Study of Post-adoption Information Technology Use: Reinforcement, Extension, or Revolution?

How and why people use information technology (IT) after initial adoption is a growing area of research in the information systems (IS) field. For the most part, IS scholars have approached this area of study with conceptual tools well honed in the study of initial IT adoption and acceptance – specially, with theories of reasoned action that emphasize the conscious formation of beliefs, attitudes, and intentions to engage in IT use behavior. At the same time, continuing IT use researchers have recognized the importance of non-reflective action – specifically, habitual behavior – in the explanation of post-adoption IT use. In this chapter, we inquire about the relevance and implications of evolutionary psychology, a theoretical paradigm recently introduced to the IS community, for the study of continuing IT use. We compare the core concepts and basic assumptions of both areas of study and we explore three ways in which IS scholars could use evolutionary insights: (1) to reinforce and justify current research approaches, (2) to extend current theory and methods in important new ways, such as by linking objective technical characteristics to cognitive belief formation, or (3) to revolutionize current approaches, for instance, by respecifying the role of emotion in behavior and by redefining the concept of habit.