Project
Research Project: An Exploration of the Antecedents, Consequences, and Mitigators of Technostress, Stress and Workaholism in Different Organisational Settings and How Do They Relate to Employee Wellbeing
Description
Operating in today’s highly competitive globalised climate requires organisations to maximise resources, yet, in doing so adverse implications for health can be realised when employees perceive an imbalance between what is being asked of them and what they believe they are capable of achieving (Bakker et al., 2003). The work environment has the capacity to create psychosocial hazards which are associated with threats to wellbeing such as stress (International Labour Organisation, 2016). Importantly, extended exposure to stress increases the likelihood of burnout and chronic illness can then follow (Kiecolt-Glaser, 2010; Kivimäki et al., 2006). In an earlier study, we examined how organisational resources and demands impact the wellbeing of staff through emotional exhaustion and cognitive workaholism.
One important result of this study was that the availability of technology tools makes it easier for workers to work longer hours than customary and high demands placed by supervisors on employee availability and responsiveness have a spill over effect on cognitive workaholism. This demand is studied under the topic “technostress”, which is defined as “the stress experienced by individuals due to the use of ICTs” (Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008). Everyday use of technology led to governmental action in certain countries . Following the empirical evidence that technostress decreases employee work well-being (Wang et al., 2022), and responding to calls for research to understand the “simultaneously positive and negative impacts of the use of ICTs and remote working for employees’ wellbeing” (Molino et al., 2020), our project aims to investigate the relationship between technostress and employee wellbeing from different aspects.