Personality, attitudes, and intentions: Predicting initial adoption of information security behavior.

Investigations of computer user behavior become especially important when behaviors like security software adoption affect organizational information resource security, but adoption antecedents remain elusive. Technology adoption studies typically predict behavioral outcomes by investigating the relationship between attitudes and intentions, though intention may not be the best predictor of actual behavior. Personality constructs have recently been found to explain even more variance in behavior, thus providing insights into user behavior. This research incorporates conscientiousness and agreeableness into a conceptual model of security software use. Attitudinal constructs perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were linked with behavioral intent, while the relationship between intent and actual use was found to be moderated by conscientiousness and agreeableness. The results that the moderating effect of personality greatly increases the amount of variance explained in actual use.