Workers’ technostress: a review of its causes, strains, inhibitors, and impacts

Figures & data

Table 1. Techno-stressors (adapted from: (Tarafdar et al., 2007))

Techno-stressor	Definition
Techno-overload	“Situations where ICTs force users to work faster and longer” (p. 315)
Techno-invasion	“The invasive effect of ICTs in terms of creating situations where users can potentially be reached anytime, employees feel the need to be constantly “connected,” and there is a blurring between work-related and personal context.” (p. 315)
Techno-complexity	“Situations where the complexity associated with ICTs makes users feel inadequate as far as their skills are concerned and forces them to spend time and effort in learning and understanding various aspects of ICTs.” (p. 315)
Techno-insecurity	“Situations where users feel threatened about losing their jobs because of a new ICT replacing them, or to other people who have a better understanding of the ICT.” (p. 315)
Techno-uncertainty	“Contexts where continuing changes and upgrades in an ICT unsettle users and create uncertainty for them, in that they have to constantly learn and educate themselves about the new ICT.” (p. 315)

Table 2. Definitions of technology overload dimensions (adapted from: (Karr-Wisniewski & Lu, 2010))

Dimension	Definition
System feature overload	A condition when the technology is too sophisticated for processing a simple task
Information overload	A condition where the information provided is greater than the ability of one to process the information
Communication overload	A condition when a third party uses technology to communicate with a worker excessively to the point it interrupts his/her job.

Figure 1. Literature review approach.

Figure 2. Paper distribution by year.

Table 3. Code scheme for technostress

Scheme	Definition
Techno-stressors	Technology related factors inducing technostress
Strain	The manifestation of technostress
Impact	The impact of technostress
Inhibitors	Factors that reduce technostress

Table 4. Example of text from literature

No	Coding scheme	Sub-coding scheme	Sample text	Reference
1	Techno-stressor	Dependency on technology	The results indicate that dependence on technology may increase technostress.	(Shu et al., 2011)
2	Techno-stressor	Role ambiguity, work overload	The strongest contributors to strain were role ambiguity and work overload	(Ayyagari et al., 2011)
3	Strain	Emotional exhaustion	In support of the TMS framework, the email stressors contributed to emotional exhaustion	(Brown et al., 2014)
4	Strain	Work exhaustion	It was found that only mobile enterprise-invasion had a significantly positive impact on work exhaustion.	(Kim et al., 2015)
5	Impact	Productivity	This indicates that the higher the communication overload experienced by mobile phone users, the lower their productivity will be.	(Hung et al., 2015)
6	Impact	Task performance	Individual stress is negatively related to task performance.	(Tams et al., 2018)
7	Inhibitor	User experience	The similarity of user experience across mobile OS vendors has greatly reduced technological complexity.	(Hung et al., 2015)
8	Inhibitor	User experience	usefulness negatively affects adverse emotions, although its influence on anxiety was marginal.	(Lee, 2016)

Table 5. Techno-stressors

Classification	Techno-stressors	Papers
System Performance	Security issues	(Kwanya et al., 2012)
	Usability issues	(Sellberg & Susi, 2014)
	System breakdown	(Riedl et al., 2012)
Non-System Performance	Techno-uncertainty	(Alam, 2016; Ayyagari et al., 2011; Bucher et al., 2013; Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Kwanya et al., 2012; Zhou et al., 2013)
	Techno-complexity	(Alam, 2016; Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Liu et al., 2019)
	Work-home conflict	(Ayyagari et al., 2011)
	Flexibility	(Kim et al., 2015; Yun et al., 2012)
	Information overload	(Karr-Wisniewski & Lu, 2010; Lee, 2016)
	Communication Overload	(Hung et al., 2015; Karr-Wisniewski & Lu, 2010; Sellberg & Susi, 2014)
	Techno-overload	(Alam, 2016; Bucher et al., 2013; Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Hung et al., 2015; Kwanya et al., 2012; Norulkamar et al., 2012; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008; Yun et al., 2012)
	Techno-insecurity	(Ayyagari et al., 2011; Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008)
	Role ambiguity	(Ayyagari et al., 2011)
	Techno-invasion	(Bucher et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2015; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008)
	System overload	(Karr-Wisniewski & Lu, 2010)
	Dependency on technology	(Liu et al., 2019; Shu et al., 2011)
	Lack of fit between demand and ability	(Al-Fudail & Mellar, 2008; Kwanya et al., 2012)
	Lack of fit between supply and need	(Al-Fudail & Mellar, 2008; Kwanya et al., 2012)

Table 6. Strains due to IT use

Classification	Strains	Papers
Emotional Strain	Emotional exhaustion	(Brown et al., 2014)
	Negative emotion anger	(Lee, 2016)
	Negative emotion anxiety	(Lee, 2016)
	Work exhaustion	(Kim et al., 2015; Turel & Gaudioso, 2018)
	Work anxiety	(Kummer et al., 2017)
	Relational anxiety	(Kummer et al., 2017)
	Techno-exhaustion	(Yang et al., 2017)
	Techno-anxiety	(Carlotto et al., 2017)
Physical Strain	Eyestrain	(Kwanya et al., 2012)
	High level of cortisol	(Riedl et al., 2012)

Table 7. Technostress inhibitors

Classification	Inhibitors	Papers
Technology Related Inhibitors	Reliability	(Ayyagari et al., 2011)
	User Experience	(Hung et al., 2015)
	Usefulness	(Lee, 2016)
	Usability	(Ayyagari et al., 2011)
	Technical Support Provision	(Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Kwanya et al., 2012; Norulkamar et al., 2012; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008)
	Controlling the pace of system development	(Kwanya et al., 2012)
Non-Technology-Related Inhibitors	Effective change management	(Kwanya et al., 2012)
	Involvement Facilitation	(Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Kim et al., 2015; Kwanya et al., 2012; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008)
	Proactive Personality Dimension	(Hung et al., 2015)
	Segmentation Culture	(Kim et al., 2015; Yun et al., 2012)
	Work Quality	(Yun et al., 2012)
	Literacy Facilitation	(Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Kwanya et al., 2012; Norulkamar et al., 2012; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008)
	Technology self-efficacy	(Liu et al., 2019; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008; Shu et al., 2011)

Table 8. Impact of technostress

Impacts	Papers
Productivity	(Alam, 2016; Hung et al., 2015; Karr-Wisniewski & Lu, 2010; Tarafdar et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2017)
Job Satisfaction	(Boonjing & Chanvarasuth, 2017; Jena, 2015; Kim et al., 2015; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008; Tak & Park, 2016; Yin et al., 2018)
End-User Satisfaction	(Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Tarafdar et al., 2010)
Employee Engagement	(Okolo et al., 2018)
User Resistance	(Yun et al., 2012)
Intention to use ICT	(Fuglseth & Sørebø, 2014; Kummer et al., 2017)
Organisational Commitment	(Jena, 2015)
Negative Affectivity	(Jena, 2015)
Technology enabled performance	(Jena, 2015)
Task Performance	(Boonjing & Chanvarasuth, 2017; Tams et al., 2018; Tarafdar et al., 2010)

Figure 3. Work-related technostress: causes, strains, inhibitors, and impacts.

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