Job demands and technology overload influencing work stress in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Date | 22 December 2022 |
| Pages | 170-188 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-07-2022-0344 |
| Published date | 22 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
| Author | Yung-Shen Yen |
Job demands and technology
overload influencing work stress
in organizations during
the COVID-19 pandemic
Yung-Shen Yen
Department of Computer Science and Information Management,
Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –This study is based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model to examine how job demands
and technology overload affect work stress for workers using video conferencing apps (VCAs) in organizations
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effect of technology self-efficacy was tested in the
model on the relationship between technology overload and work stress.
Design/methodology/approach –An online survey was conducted to investigate workers on PTT forums
in Taiwan. A sample was obtained of 253 workers, and structural equation modeling was conducted using
AMOS to test the hypotheses.
Findings –Job demands positively affect work stress through information overload, communication overload
and system feature overload. Moreover, high technology self-efficacy may weaken the relationship between
technology overload and work stress.
Research limitations/implications –The study may have sample bias because our sample was obtained
from an online survey on social networking sites. Regarding the theoretical implications, this study
demonstrated that technology overload, as an internal organism, is a critical mediator influencing the
relationship between job demands (stimulus) and work stress (response). Thus, this study extended the
applicability of the SOR model in the context of working with VCAs in organizations.
Practical implications –Company managers need to effectively control the information amount,
communication interruptions and system features of social media at optimum levels for workers. Moreover,
companies should recruit workers with high technology self-efficacy or provide technology training and
technology-related consulting to those with low technology self-efficacy.
Originality/value –The extant work stress knowledge is extended to workers using VCAs in organizations.
Keywords Jobdemands, Technologyoverload, Technologyself-efficacy,Work stress, Video conferencingapps,
Stimulus–organism–response model
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
As mobile technology has rapidly grown, video conferencing apps (VCAs)—such as Skype,
Slack, Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams—have attracted considerable attention in
organizations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote meetings accelerated VCA use, which
are widely used in organizations. Working with VCAs in organizations has become one of the
major ways people work, from either home or other remote locations. Although VCAs
undoubtedly provide diverse advantages to workers, prior studies have found that stress,
fatigue and depression are highly associated with technology overuse (Xiao and Mou, 2019).
Indeed, workers may experience work stress due to the work combined with technology
overuse in organizations (Nayak and Budhwar, 2022). For example, during the COVID-19
pandemic, workers have participated in various remote meetings through VCAs to work with
coworkers at any time and any place. Therefore, understanding the factors influencing work
stress is useful for workers to take the appropriate actions to cope with this stress.
In the literature, the job demands–resources model argues that, while job demands may
not necessarily be negative, they can become job stressors when the worker cannot
AJIM
76,1
170
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2050-3806.htm
Received 28 July 2022
Revised 19 October 2022
Accepted 11 December 2022
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 76 No. 1, 2024
pp. 170-188
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-07-2022-0344
adequately meet them (Meijman and Mulder, 1998). Thus, job demands may exhaust workers’
mental and physical resources and lead to health problems or burnout, which results in stress
outcomes (Higgins et al., 2010). On the other hand, prior studies have indicated that
organizational information and communication technologies (ICTs) may induce work stress
for workers (Karr-Wisniewski and Lu, 2010). Scholars use the term “technostress”to illustrate
the phenomenon in which ICT use creates stress in users (e.g. Zhao et al., 2020;Nayak and
Budhwar, 2022). Even though ICTs can be positive when they are used for knowledge
sharing, problem solving and collaboration (Landers and Schmidt, 2016), they may result in
negative outcomes when they are overused. Karr-Wisniewski and Lu (2010) called this
phenomenon “technology overload”or “technology crowding”, while Laumer et al. (2013)
called it “social interaction overload”. Therefore, job demands and technology overload serve
as two critical antecedents of work stress if the worker cannot afford the work and the
technology they overuse in organizations. As job demands may stimulate technology overuse
for workers working with coworkers through VCAs during COVID-19, we assume that job
demands induce technology overload, which increases work stress. Therefore, drawing on
the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, this study examines this causal relationship.
Here, job demands act as the stimulus, technology overload acts as the organism, and work
stress acts as the response.
Moreover, to further understand workers’technology ability differences affecting work
stress, this study examines the moderating effect of technology self-efficacy. Prior studies
have found that technology self-efficacy increases an individual’s coping ability and acts as a
buffer mechanism against stressful situations (Cooper et al., 2001). However, little research
has examined how technology self-efficacy moderates the relationship between technology
overload and work stress for workers in organizations. Delpechitre et al. (2019) argued that
technology self-efficacy can help workers perform technology-related tasks efficiently. Thus,
if workers believe they are empowered to use the technology, the effect may be waived
of technology overload on stress. In this regard, we may assume that workers with high
(vs low) technology self-efficacy may experience lower impacts on the relationship between
technology overload and work stress.
Therefore, this study addresses the following two research questions.
RQ1. How do job demands affect technology overload, which increases work stress for
workers using VCAs to work with coworkers in organizations?
RQ2. Does technology self-efficacy moderate the relationship between technology
overload and work stress?
These questions have not yet been investigated directly.
2. Literature review and hypotheses development
2.1 SOR model
In the literature, the SOR model is a robust framework to explain how external stimuli affect
an individual’s responses (Cao and Sun, 2018). This model posits that an external,
environmental stimulus arouses an individual’s internal state, which affects responses. Thus,
the SOR model has been examined to explain user online behavior (e.g. Zhou et al., 2022),
purchase intention (e.g. Zhu et al., 2020) and social commerce intention (e.g. Zhang et al., 2014).
In the overload-related research, Cao and Sun (2018) found that technology overload impacts
the discontinuous intention of social media for university students. That is, students may
satisfy their social media use, but they may regret their behavior if they spend a large amount
of time and energy engaging in meaningless activities. However, in the workplace, little
research has examined how job demands affect work stress through technology overload for
Job demands
and technology
overload
171
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
