Exploring antecedents of technology usage and stress

Abstract

The ubiquitous and pervasive use of ICT (Information communication technology) has transformed the contemporary workplace. ICT has enabled blurring of geographical boundaries leading to freedom from being restricted to the physical workplace and has dramatically increased the pace of information flow. While these affordances have enhanced the potential of an employee to be more flexible in meeting the work demands, the above properties have also resulted in continuous engagement of the employee with the workplace and an enhanced expectation of the employers to be prompt in attending the workplace related issues. Thus, potentially, ICT use can increase the work stress significantly. While ‘technostress’, the stress related to the use of ICT in workplace, as a phenomenon is underexplored, the processual aspects of technostress, particularly, the mechanisms by which ICT use can cause stress is especially understudied. The present study contributes to the literature on ICT use by employees by examining the conflicting aspects of the use of ICT in work place. Specifically, we investigate the processual aspects of technostress by exploring the effect of ICT usage on perception of autonomy, time pressure, work-life balance and work stress.