The impact of technostress on role stress and productivity

Based on empirical survey data, this paper uses concepts from sociotechnical theory and role theory to explore the effects of stress created by informatino and computer technology (ICT) - that is, "technostress" - on role stress and on stress in user and identify factors that creat technostress. We next propose three hypotheses: (1) technostress is inversely related to individual productivity, (2) role stress is inversely related to individual productivity, and (3) technostress is directly related to role stress. We then use strucutral equation modeling on survey data from ICT users in 223 organizations to test the hypotheses. The results show support for individuals in organizations. Second, by showing that technostressinversely affects productivity, the paper reinforces that failure to manage the effects of ICT-induced relationship between technostress and role stress adds a new conceptual thread to literature analyzing the relationship between technology and organizational roles and structure. In the practical domain, the paper proposes a diagnostic tool to evaluate the extent to which technostress can be partly countered by strategies that reduce role conflict and role overload.