Abstract:
In this thesis, I examine the influence of the salience of automation on the insomnia of young adults. Automation is increasing at a rapid rate, and has potentially important implications for the careers of young adults who could see the jobs that they have or aim to have be replaced by automation in the relatively near future. Job insecurity, job loss, and financial insecurity are all ultimately public health issues in and of themselves, but I posit that the salience of automation can potentially lead to widespread insomnia, which is another public health issue. Specifically, I propose that the salience of automation waxes and wanes over time. I hypothesize that this variance in the salience of automation will have important implications for the insomnia of young adults, through the mediating mechanism of anxiety. Finally, I hypothesize that an opportunity for self-affirmation will ameliorate these effects. To test these hypotheses, I conducted a pre-registered field experiment in which I manipulate the salience of automation as well as an opportunity to engage in self-affirmation. In my field experiment of261 young adults (aged 18-25), the data did not support the pre-registered hypotheses. Post hoc exploratory analyses indicate that salience of automation did lead to an increase in insomnia for students, but not participants who had jobs already. However, this effect is not mediated by anxiety. Additional post hoc exploratory analyses examining age and gender as moderators did not reveal any significant moderation effects. Finally, a set of post hoc exploratory analyses examining alternative similar outcomes of sleep quality also failed to reveal a significant effect of salience of automation. Overall, these results fail to support my model, but do indicate the possibility that adults who are students may be more vulnerable to the effects of salience of automation on insomnia than those who are out of school in and the working world.