Examining the role of mindfulness in mitigating technostress and its negative consequences

Abstract

The proliferation and ubiquity of information technologies (ICTs) have transformed the working environment of organizations, making imperative the engagement of individuals with various technologies for the accomplishment of their work tasks. Although ICTs have offered significant benefits both to individuals and organizations, those advances have come with some costs. Recently, academic literature has shown an increased interest in the dark side or else the negative aspects of technology usage within the workplace, focusing on the stress that individuals experience due to the extended usage of ICTs called technostress. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the concept of technostress revealing its severe consequences on individuals, leading to huge monetary costs for organizations; however, few studies have investigated mechanisms for the alleviation of this phenomenon thus the need for further research is crucial. Addressing this call of research, the present study contributes to the technostress literature by adopting for the first time a mindfulness perspective. The current study aims to examine the role of mindfulness as an organizational mechanism that can mitigate the impact of technostress on individuals as well as alleviate its negative consequences. By following a mixed methods approach, the current study involved two phases; At first, a theoretical framework was developed, based on the transactional-based model of stress, in order to examine the influence of mindfulness on technostress as well as its impact on job related and IT usage related outcomes. By conducting a survey-based approach and exploring a sample of 500 working individuals, the developed model was validated through SEM analysis revealing that mindfulness constitutes a powerful mechanism that can effectively reduce technostress, increase job satisfaction while also enhance user satisfaction while utilizing ICTs for work tasks and improve task performance. During the second phase of the study, the thematic analysis of the collected data, derived from semi-structured interviews, validated the results of the quantitative analysis confirming the role of mindfulness in reducing technostress conditions; while also yielded deeper insights revealing a set of strategies that more mindful individuals deploy during technostress experiences. Overall, the current study enhances existing literature in the IS domain by revealing the valuable role of mindfulness in protecting individuals against the negative impact of stressful events occurring due to ICT usage while also providing substantial practical implications; By introducing mindfulness programs for their employees, corporate and HR managers can significantly improve employees’ work life, increase individual productivity and enhance overall wellbeing at work thus ultimately improving the business performance and overall success of the organization.