When and why telepressure and technostress creators impair employee well-being

Abstract

Objectives. This article describes the effects of two specific information and communication technology (ICT) demands (telepressure, technostress creators) on employee well-being, and investigates a mediating effect of detachment (Study 1) and moderating effects of technostress inhibitors on the effects of ICT demands on well-being (Study 2) and detachment (Study 3). Methods. Three quantitative studies with employees (Study 1, N = 296; Study 2, N = 142; Study 3, N = 316) were conducted. Results. The results support the negative effect of ICT demands on several well-being indicators. They also show how detachment mediates the effect of telepressure on well-being (Study 1) and how technostress inhibitors moderate the effect of technostress creators on well-being (Study 2). Technostress inhibitors further buffer negative effects of technostress creators on detachment (Study 3). Conclusion. Interventions to reduce negative consequences of ICTs by increasing the level of technostress inhibitors (e.g., technical support) or facilitating employee detachment (e.g., through communication policies) are derived. The findings confirm that general models explaining stress and well-being are applicable to new forms of job demands and extend existing empirical support for the effect of ICT demands on well-being. Future research should investigate the interplay between the studied variables within a moderated mediation model.

Keywords:

• information and communication technology demands
• technostress creators
• telepressure
• well-being
• detachment

Acknowledgements

Some ideas described in this article were presented at the 51st Congress of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. This research was part of the Erasmus + Knowledge Alliances Project ‘IMPRESS-Improving management competences on Excellence based Stress avoidance and working towards Sustainable organisational development in Europe’ (Project Reference: 588315-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-EPPKA2-KA). This is the official disclaimer we are supposed to use: The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The article was written while the second author received a grant from the Bayerische Gleichstellungsfoerderung. The authors thank the editor and reviewers for their helpful comments, Martina Gress and Catherine Gronover for their contribution to conducting the studies, and Keri Hartman for proofreading the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Erasmus+ [grant number: Project Reference: 588315-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-EPPKA2-KA]; Freistaat Bayern [grant number: Bayerische Gleichstellungsförderung].