Time to Disentangle the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Constructs: Developing a Taxonomy around ICT Use for Occupational Health Research

Abstract

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the workplace has gained considerable research attention in the occupational health field due to its effects on employee stress and well-being. Consequently, new ICT-related constructs have proliferated in occupational health research, resulting in a need to take stock of both potential redundancies and deficiencies in the current measures. This paper disentangles ICT-related constructs, developing a taxonomy of ICT-related constructs in terms of ICT demands, resources, motivation, use, and strains. We then integrate this taxonomy with stress and motivation theories to identify three key implications for ICT and workplace health research and practices in terms of providing suggestions on understudied areas for building better theories, highlighting important psychometric issues for building better constructs and measures, and offering recommendations for building better interventions. This review aims to serve as a guide for researchers to move forward with the current state of research and provide recommendations for organizations in terms of both potential repercussions and best practices for ICT use in the workplace.

Can Leaders Prevent Technology From Backfiring? Empowering Leadership as a Double-Edged Sword for Technostress in Care

“…For example, Fischer et al ( 2021 ) very recently developed a scale which distinguishes between 15 ICT-related stressors. Conversely, Hu et al ( 2021 ) a little while ago challenged our thinking about techno-stressors altogether by suggesting to “integrate the research on ICT and employee health and well-being to ‘clean up' ICT terminologies and measures” (Hu et al, 2021 , p. 22). This suggests that conceptual development in technostress literature is still ongoing and that as this literature evolves, so will our understanding of technostress and its link with leaders and employee outcomes.…”

“…Examples of such techno-stressors include stress due to information overload (techno-overload), the invasion of technology to the private sphere (techno-invasion), the sheer complexity of technology (techno-complexity), constant changes in hardware and software (techno-uncertainty) and/or concerns over future employment (techno-insecurity; Tarafdar et al, 2010 ). While some have sought to broaden (Fischer et al, 2021 ) or challenge (Hu et al, 2021 ) this conceptualization of techno-stressors, scholars like Molino et al ( 2020 ) and Spagnoli et al ( 2020 ) recently made a convincing case for a more parsimonious approach, which focuses on techno-overload, techno-invasion and techno-complexity as three predominant stressors in contemporary jobs. For example, childcare workers might struggle with the techno-complexity and techno-overload of information (cf.…”

When Thinking About Work Makes Employees Reach for Their Devices: A Longitudinal Autoregressive Diary Study

“…Differentiated measurement of ICT use for work, including the motivation for doing so, is necessary in this regard (cf. Hu et al, 2021). Because our task progress scale did not distinguish between task progress and work task completion, this could be explored in the future to test whether work task completion reverses effects or increases mastery experiences.…”

Keeping Up With Work Email After Hours and Employee Wellbeing: Examining Relationships During and Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Lawmakers in New York City have also had similar discussions, now stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, around banning employers from requiring workers to keep up with work email during nonwork hours. Given the important organizational and legislative decisions that are being made around work-related email use, more empirical investigation into its relationship with worker wellbeing is warranted, as much of the research in this area has focused on information and communication technology (ICT) more generally (see Hu et al, 2021 for a review). Further, the implications of using email after hours likely differ in the current work environment, as work-home boundaries have become more permeable due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Third, research to date on ICT use and wellbeing has often overlooked the psychological processes underlying the behavior (Hu et al, 2021). In essence, it is not only important to establish that engaging in work-related technology after hours relates to negative wellbeing outcomes, but also to examine why or under what conditions these relationships exist.…”