Consequences of technostress for users in remote (home) work contexts during a time of crisis: The buffering role of emotional social support

• Published in: Technological forecasting & social change Vol. 199; p. 123065
• Main Authors: Khedhaouria, Anis, Montani, Francesco, Jamal, Arshad, Hussain Shah, Mahmood
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Covid-19; Emotional social support; Remote work; Strain; Technostress; Work satisfaction; Work satisfaction; Technostress; Emotional social support; Covid-19; Remote work; Strain
• ISSN: 0040-1625; 1873-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123065

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a substantial increase in the adoption of remote work. However, this shift towards remote work can potentially cause technostress (TS) due to the constant use of information and communication technology (ICT). Research suggests that receiving emotional social support (ESS) from one's social network can mitigate the negative effects of technostress. However, previous studies in the information systems (IS) field have yielded inconclusive results regarding the role of ESS in moderating the relationship between TS, strain, and work satisfaction. Drawing on the transactional theory of stress, our model conceptualizes the effect of TS on work satisfaction as being fully mediated by strain, and the effects of TS on strain and work satisfaction as being moderated by ESS. To test our model, we collected data from 306 ICT users who remotely worked from home during the lockdown period. After accounting for marital and parental statuses, our results reveal that: (a) TS increased the strain experienced by ICT users, subsequently resulting in decreased work satisfaction. (b) ESS mitigated the direct effect of TS on strain and the indirect effect of TS on work satisfaction. These findings highlight the potential benefits of ESS in remote work contexts.
•The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a substantial increase in the adoption of remote work.•The constant use of information and communication technology in remote work has increased technostress among ICT users.•Technostress increased the strain experienced by users, consequently reducing their work satisfaction in remote work.•Emotional social support alleviated the effects of technostress on both strain and satisfaction in remote work.