Upload
tomschool
View
35
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
This paper proposes a conceptual framework of the impacts of inhibitorson computer-related technostress.
Citation preview
TSINGHUA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISSN 1007-0214 0 2 / 1 5 pp 7 5 3 - 7 6 0
V o l u m e 10 , N u m b e r S I , D e c e m b e r 2005
Empirical Study of Coping Strategies for Computer-Related Technostress of Chinese Employees*
WANG Kanliang (^T [J^) * * , SHU Qin ^ ) , TU Qiang ( S My
School of M a n a g e m e n t , X i ' an J iaotong Univers i ty , X i ' an 7 1 0 0 4 9 , C h i n a ;
f Col lege of B u s i n e s s , Rochester Institute of T e c h n o l o g y , Roches ter , N Y 1 4 6 2 3 , U S A
A b s t r a c t : Technostress is defined as "any negative impact on attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, or body
psychology caused directly or indirectly by technology". With the rapid diffusion and penetration of
information and communication technology, computer-related technostress attracts more and more
attention from academic and professional fields. Based on the analysis of the inhibitors of the
computer-related technostress, this paper proposes a conceptual framework of the impacts of inhibitors
on computer-related technostress. Then a survey was conducted, data was processed and analyzed
using SPSS and LISREL. The result shows that an improved training utility in computer technology,
efficient technology-end-user help-desk will help to alleviate computer-related technostress.
Key w o r d s : technostress; computer technology ; coping strategy
Introduction With the rapid development of information and
communicat ion technology ( ICT ) , the related
appl icat ions have penet ra ted in almost every aspects of
society. According to a survey conducted in January
2005 by the China Internet Network Information Center
( CNNIC ) , 94 million Chinese users frequently
accessed the In te rne t , an increase of 7 millions
compared with only half year a g o , which corresponds to
an 8 % increase . The number is 1 5 1 . 6 t imes more than
the first survey conducted in October 1 9 9 7 , i. e. , 0 .
62 million Internet u s e r s T h e s e data indicate that
the appl icat ions of ICT are rapidly developing in
China .
Whi le providing great convenience and improved
communicat ion efficiency, the appl icat ions of ICT also
bring about many negative impacts on the nature of
work and life for people relying on ICT. For e x a m p l e ,
Received: 2005-11-09
* Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China ( N o . 7 0 3 7 2 0 4 9 )
* * To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mai l : klwang@ mail. xjtu. edu. c n ;
Te l : 8 6 - 2 9 - 8 2 6 6 8 7 4 8 ; F a x : 86-29-82665092
many enterpr ise employees perceived that they could
not control computer- re la ted technologies which upda te
frequently in routine work. They were perplexed by
such complicated technologies surrounding their work
and life. Whatever top-level management or general
employees , they were endur ing stresses from fast
technology advancement . A study conducted by two
psychologis ts , Weil and R o s e n , indicated that 5 0 % to
6 0 % of people disclosed hesitat ion in adopting new
technologies ; 3 0 % to 4 0 % of people rejected new
technology introduct ion. The study also proposed a
pa r adox , that i s , advanced modern technologies are
supposed to l iberate people from difficulties or iginal ly,
but people always perceive them to be s l aves , rather
than mas t e r s , of these technologies .
Since 1 9 8 0 s , the field of computer- re la ted
technostress has been explored extensively. Most of the
researches focused on various c a u s e s , m e a s u r e m e n t s ,
and alleviating strategies of computer- re la ted
t echnos t re s s , especial ly exper ienced by l ibrar ians . The
intention of these s tudies is not to oppose modern
technology adopt ion , but to find out effective ways to
alleviate technostress and make technology better fit our
society.
This paper focuses on the coping strategies of
computer- re la ted technost ress . Based on existing
754 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2 0 0 5 , 1 0 ( S I ) : 753 - 7 6 0
researches and related l i t e ra ture , we propose a
framework of the impact of coping strategies on
computer- re la ted technostress and related hypo theses ,
which are val idated by an empir ical s tudy.
1 Literature
The term " t e c h n o s t r e s s " has been in use firstly since
1 9 8 4 , when psychologist Craig Brod publ i shed his
book , Technostress; The Human Cost of the Computer
Revolution^ . He defined technostress as " a modern
disease of adaptat ion caused by an inability to cope
with the new computer technologies in a healthy
manner . It manifests itself in two dist inct and related
ways : in the struggle to accept computer technology,
and in the more special ized form of over-identification
with computer technology. " Weil and Rosen expanded
the definition of technostress to inc lude " any negative
impact on a t t i tudes , t hough t s , behaviors or psychology
caused directly or indirectly by technology " [ 3 ] .
Computer- re la ted technostress is also labeled by
researchers with various terms like t e chnophob ia ,
cybe rphob ia , compute rphob ia , computer anxie ty ,
computer s t r e s s , negative computer a t t i tudes , and the
l ike .
In s u m m a r y , we define technostress as a reflection of
o n e ' s d i scomposure , fear , t e n s e n e s s , and anxiety
when one is learning and using computer technology
directly or indi rec t ly , which ult imately ends in
psychological and emotional repulsion and prevents one
from further learning or using computer technology.
The causes and the manifestations of computer -
related technostress are multifold. For i n s t ance , Bloom
states that the scarcity of computer ability and
successful exper ience are two major reasons result ing in
computer- re la ted t e c h n o s t r e s s [ 4 ] . Computer t raining is
often impeded by such fears as breaking the m a c h i n e ,
looking s tup id , or losing control. Doronina pointed out
that computer anxiety was dis t inguished into separate
ca tegor ies : the fear of breaking the computer in some
way , being perceived as ignorant or i nep t , anxiety of
new technology and ma thema t i c s , various heal th
threa ts . In add i t ion , there are various fears concerning
new and unfamiliar t e c h n o l o g i e s [ 5 ] .
The existing researches identify four components of
t echnos t re s s : work over load, individual life invas ion ,
high complexity of technology, and occupat ional
c r i s i s 2 ' 3 . Ragu-Na than et al . [ 6 ] developed a
quest ionnaire for measur ing the extent of technostress
perceived by p e o p l e , which was adopted in this
research .
There have been many existing researches on the
coping strategies of technost ress . Monat and Lazarus
proposed several coping strategies which consist of
h u m a n behavior and the degree of percept ion towards
th ings . These strategies can d e c r e a s e , ove rcome , and
endure the compulsive reques t s . They classified the
strategies into two major ca tegor ies : emotion-oriented
strategies and problem-or iented strategies. Problem-
oriented coping refers to the improvement efforts of the
t roubled worke r / env i ronmen t relat ionship by changing
technology. For e x a m p l e , by seeking information about
what to d o , by holding back from impulsive and
premature ac t ions , and by confronting the person or
persons responsible for o n e ' s difficulty. The typical
examples of this type of coping method are training and
educat ion . Emotion-or iented coping refers to the
change of thoughts and behaviors in order to relief
menta l s t ress . This type of strategy tends to alleviate
t echnos t re s s , that i s , to improve the feelings of
sub jec t s , without the intention to change the threat and
destruct ive si tuation.
Weil and Rosen developed a human-cen te red model
to introduce new technology, which starts from human
and integrates technology and machine into the work
p lace . The model is divided into 12 independen t
a s p e c t s [ 3 ] .
Although the above aspects of human-cen te red model
are unable to resolve every problem of technostress in
organizat ion, they are helpful to reduce much
technology stress in enterpr ises . According to
l i teratures and relevant r e s e a r c h e s , we can summarize
the coping strategies as shown in Table 1.
2 Hypothesis
The current research uses the Technostress
Quest ionnaire developed by Ragu-Na than et al . [ 5 ] The
quest ionnaire was first t ranslated from English to
Chinese by the authors of this paper . In order to ensure
that the t ranslated version of the quest ionnaire is
adaptab le to the Chinese settings and that the validity
and the reliability of the original English version are
still ma in t a ined , a pilot study was conducted to
reassess the reliability and validity of the measures .
T h e n , after a prel iminary confirmatory factor analysis
was d o n e , we revised the quest ionnaire repeatedly and
confirmed the final version of the ques t ionnai re .
The first section of the quest ionnaire descr ibes
typical si tuations where the use of computer technology
can potentially create technost ress . According to the
result of confirmatory factor ana lys i s , we obtained four
factors :
WANG Kanliang (^f [ J 8.) et a l : Empirical Study of Coping Strategies for Computer-Related 755
• T e c h n o - o v e r l o a d such as higher workload ,
faster work p a c e , or change of work habit caused by
new technology;
• T e c h n o - i n v a s i o n such as personal life and
privacy invaded by new technology, e. g. , employees
spend less t ime with family or sacrifice holidays to
learn new technology;
• T e c h n o - c o m p l e x i t y such as the inability to learn
or deal with the complexity of new technology;
• Techno- insecur i ty such as technology inducing
job insecur i ty , e. g. , fears of being replaced by more
skilled people and the constant push to upda te
technica l skil ls .
The third section of quest ionnaire descr ibes typical
ways in which the use of technology is facilitated in an
organization. An exploration factor analysis was
conducted and three factors emerged.
• T h e condi t ions of tra ining a n d learning For
e x a m p l e , organization provides better end-use r training
before the introduction of new technology. ( Question
item X203 , corresponds to the first strategy shown in
Table 1 , which belongs to problem-or iented strategy. )
• T e c h n o l o g y suppor t center Enterpr ise
es tabl ishes an efficient and professional technology
support center . For e x a m p l e , the end-use r he lp-desk
does a good job of answering quest ions regarding
technology ( Question item X 2 0 6 , corresponds to the
sixth strategy shown in Table 1 , which belongs to
problem-or iented strategy. )
• E m p l o y e e s ' part ic ipat ion Enterpr ise
encourages employees to par t ic ipate in the introduction
of new technology. For e x a m p l e , end-use rs are
consulted before introduction of new technology.
(Ques t ion item X 2 1 2 , corresponds to the 11th strategy
shown in Table 1 , which belongs to emotion-oriented
strategy. )
Computer- re la ted technology has become an
indispensable part of modern enterpr ise . Enterpr ise
cannot retreat from technology, what is m o r e , new
advanced technologies appear everyday. However ,
technostress in work place will inevitably impact
o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s efficiency. For e x a m p l e , an
organization which cannot cope with computer- re la ted
technostress properly may be puzzled by higher rate of
absence and s e p a r a t i o n [ 8 ] . Craig Brod has ever warned
that the ways of technology introduction of most
enterpr ises actually " make for the generat ion of
t e c h n o s t r e s s " [ 2 ] . Consequen t ly , the most important
problem is how to avoid and reduce computer- re la ted
technostress in the process of new technology
introduct ion. If an enterprise took appropria te p lans
and acceptab le m e t h o d s , technology could realize its
po ten t ia l , making the enterpr ise more mighty and
successful . At the same t i m e , the important resource of
Table 1 Coping strategies of computer-re lated technostress
Problem-oriented coping
1 ) Enterprise provides employees more interior or exterior training opportunities for new technology and increases budget of new
technology training.
2 ) Improve and enhance e n t e r p r i s e ' s ability of system maintain and try to prevent accidents resulting in technostress.
3 ) Establish enterprise sharing information database in the form of typical cases and resolving p l an , so that the learning curve of
individual and enterprise can be shortened obviously when similar problem happens .
4 ) Amend the relationship between technology consumers and IT employees in order to resolve many instances resulting in
technostress .
5 ) Enterprises need adopt all-round and scientific IT evaluating method to avoid wrong investment resulting from carelessly
adopting prevalent technology.
6 ) Enterprise provides clear new technology documentation for consumers .
7 ) Enterprise establishes efficient technology services center , so technology problems meet by employees can be resolved in t ime.
Emotion-oriented coping
8 ) Enterprise provides better compensation and welfare plan for employees in order to enhance working activity of employees that
is helpful to reduce mental stress.
9 ) Enterprise adopts appropriate police to keep the balance between working efficiency and worker welfare, so employees can
obtain equivalent reward to their efficiency.
10 ) Promote the team spiri t , making them share the working burden resulting in technostress and resolving technological problem
together.
11 ) Before enterprise introduces new technology, explains relevant employees the profit of new technology to their work.
12 ) During technology amending or introducing, take the employee participated and accept the suggestion to new technology.
756 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2 0 0 5 , 1 0 ( S I ) : 753 - 7 6 0
en te rp r i se , and the mental and emotional heal th of
employees , is protected. This paper in tends to answer
the following two ques t ions : F i r s t , are the impacts of
these coping strategies on different technostress factors
effective? Second , does certain correlation exist among
technostress creators? Based on the coping strategies of
previous s t ud i e s , we propose a conceptua l model and
hypotheses about the impact of coping strategies on
computer- re la ted t echnos t re s s , trying to explore and
answer the two ques t ions .
Training helps relieve technostress by reducing
anxiety. For e x a m p l e , a mandatory 12-h course
( au tomat ion skills t r a in ing , A S T ) designed to show
new employees how to use technology and how
important technology is to both l ibraries and users . The
assessment of the series has been overwhelmingly Γ9]
new technology and enhance e m p l o y e e s ' confidence.
This leads to the following hypothesis .
• Hypothesis H 3 : technology support center can
decrease e m p l o y e e s ' work load.
• Hypothesis H 4 : technology support center will
r educe the complexity of new technology perceived by
employees .
• Hypothesis H 5 : technology support center will
decrease the insecurity of new technology perceived by
employees .
Previous s tudies argued about the relat ionship
between part icipat ive management and stress.
J a c k s o n [ 1 3 ] found that part icipat ion had a negative
effect on perceived job stress . A solution which has
become increasingly popular for deal ing with res is tance
to change is to get the people involved in
positive . The training of job skill can improve " part icipat ion " while making the change [ 1 4 ]
e m p l o y e e s ' capabil i ty and self -confidence [ 1 0 ] .
Reduc ing anxiety and improving self-confidence could
make employees feel bet ter in their job . Therefore , we
propose the following hypothesis .
• Hypothesis Hl ·, the good condit ions of training
and learning new technology that the enterprise
provides for employees will r educe their work load.
• Hypothesis H 2 : the good condit ions of training
and learning new technology that the enterprise
provides for employees can reduce the complexity of
new technology perceived by employees .
Workplace support has been discussed to reduce job
stressors and burnout through several mechan isms 1 1 ] .
Supportive communicat ion ( part icularly informational
suppor t ) can serve to reduce u n c e r t a i n t y [ 1 2 ] and hence
reduce role ambiguity. W h e n enterpr ises introduce new
technology, technology support center could exert the
same function which is helpful to settle the problem of
As
ment ioned a b o v e , enterpr ises should consider the
suggestion of employees in the process of technology
selection and design. Part icipat ive management belongs
to emotion-oriented coping. This strategy makes
employees feel respec ted . H e n c e , the feeling of
insecurity will be rel ieved. Therefore , we provide the
following hypothesis .
• Hypothesis H 6 : e m p l o y e e s ' part icipat ion before
introduction of new technology will r educe the
complexity of new technology perceived by employees .
• Hypothesis H 7 : employees ' part icipat ion before
introduction of new technology will r educe the
insecurity of new technology perceived by employees .
From the above ana lys i s , we propose a conceptual
framework and related hypotheses about the impact of
coping strategies on computer- re la ted technostress as
shown in Fig. 1.
H„ (+)
Fig. 1 Impact of coping strategy on computer-re lated technostress
WANG Kanliang (-ΞΕΤΟ 8 ) et a l : Empirical Study of Coping Strategies for Computer-Related 757
3 Research Method We distr ibuted the quest ionnaires to countrywide
corporation managers by e-mail or postal se rv ice , after
previous contact and communica t ion , and the
completed surveys were re turned in a month . The
survey was distr ibuted to a random sample of 1462
employees in 86 Chinese companies in X i ' a n ,
Shenzhen , C h e n g d u , Ta iyuan , Bei j ing , Shi j iazhuang,
and Shanghai . A total of 1029 usable quest ionnaires
were completed with a 7 0 . 3 8 % response ra te . We
checked these re turned ques t ionna i res , dismissed the
invalid ones and obtained 951 valid quest ionnaires
which were used to do the following analysis .
The quest ionnaire was divided into ten sect ions.
From section 1 to section 9 , a 5-point type scale
( Likert- type scale ) was u s e d , with 1 indicat ing
strongly disagree and 5 indicat ing strongly agree .
Responden ts were asked to circle the appropria te
number to indicate the extent to which h e / s h e agreed
or disagreed with each s ta tement . We also inc luded
percept ive quest ions about levels of individual
productivity and various demographic variables in
section 10 .
Among the r e s p o n d e n t s , 3 4 . 3 % are female , 5 8 . 5 %
are male and 2 . 3 % did not repor t ; 3 5 . 8 % are
younger than 2 6 , 4 6 % are from 26 to 35 , 1 1 . 5 % are
over 36 , and 1 . 8 % did not repor t ; 2 8 . 5 % are junior
co l lege , 4 7 . 9 % are bache lo r , 1 3 . 7 % are mas te r , and
3 . 6 % are did not report .
Then the confirmatory factor analysis was conduced
with varimax by pr incipal components . The factor
analysis and reliability scores are shown in Table 2 and
Table 3 , respect ively.
In most i n s t ances , researchers tend to use a cutoff of
0 . 3 or 0 . 4 for what they consider meaningful
l o a d i n g [ 1 5 ] . All factor loadings in our paper are higher
than 0 . 4 . The reliability scores mostly meet or exceed
the min imum 0 . 7 c r i t e r i a [ 1 6 ] .
Table 2 Factor analysis and reliability score of computer-re lated technostress creators
Factors Items Description Loading a
F l l : X101 I am forced by this technology to work much faster. 0 . 7 6 5
Techno- X102 I am forced by this technology to do more work than I can handle . 0 . 6 5 2 0 . 6 2 9 8
overload X103 I am forced by this technology to work with very tight time schedules . 0 . 7 1 1
X104 I am forced to change my work habits to adapt to new technologies. 0 . 4 6 1
X105 I have a higher workload because of increased technology complexity. 0 . 5 3 6
F 1 2 :
Techno-
invasion
X106 I have to spend a lot of time everyday reading an overwhelming amount of e-mail messages. 0 . 6 0 0 F 1 2 :
Techno-
invasion
X107
X108
I have to work harder because of delays from hardware , software, and network problems.
I spend less time with my family due to this technology.
0 . 6 4 6
0 . 7 0 0 0 . 7 9 7 8
F 1 2 :
Techno-
invasion X109 I have to be in touch with my work even during my vacation due to the technology. 0 . 7 2 4
X110 I have to sacrifice my vacation and weekend time to keep current on new technologies. 0 . 5 7 4
X l l l I feel that my personal life has been invaded by this technology. 0 . 6 0 0
X112 I do not know enough about this technology to handle my job satisfactorily. 0 . 6 7 5
X113 I need a long time to unders tand and use new technologies. 0 . 6 1 4
F 1 3 : X114 I do not find enough time to study and upgrade my technology skills. 0 . 6 2 3
Techno- X115 I find new recruits to this organization know more about computer technology than I do. 0 . 6 0 3 0 . 7 6 7 7
complexity X116 I often find it too complex for me to unders tand and use new technologies. 0 . 6 6 3
X117 I feel constant threat to my job security due to new technologies. 0 . 5 4 9
X119 I am threatened by co-workers with newer technology skills. 0 . 4 8 2
F 1 4 : X120 I do not share my knowledge with my co-workers for fear of being replaced. 0 . 8 5 1
Techno- 0 . 7 9 2 4
insecurity X121 I feel there is less sharing of knowledge among co-workers for fearing of being replaced. 0 . 8 1 3
Extraction method: Principal component analysis.
Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalization.
Reliability analysis method: Alpha.
758 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2 0 0 5 , 1 0 ( S I ) : 753 - 7 6 0
Table 3 Factor analysis and reliability score of coping strategies
Factors Items Description Loading a
F21 : The
condition of
training and
learning
X203
X204
X205
Our organization provides good end-user training before the introduction of new
technology.
Our organization fosters a good relationship between IT department and end-users .
Our organization provides clear documentation to end users on using new
technologies.
0 . 8 2 9
0 . 7 3 2
0 . 6 8 5
0 . 7 4 3 0
X206 Our end-user help-desk does a good job of answering questions regarding
technology.
0 . 7 5 2
F22 : Technology
support center X207
X208
Our end-user help-desk is well staffed by knowledgeable individuals.
Our end-user help-desk is easily accessible .
0 . 7 3 2
0 . 7 6 2
0 . 7 9 1 0
X209 Our end-user help-desk is responsive to end-user requests . 0 . 7 3 4
F23 : Employees '
participation
X211 Our end users are rewarded for using new technologies.
X212 Our end-users are consulted before introduction of new technology.
X213 Our end-users are involved in technology change a n d / o r implementation.
0 . 7 5 9
0 . 8 0 7
0 . 7 5 2
0 . 7 4 3 3
Extraction method: Principal component analysis.
Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalization.
Reliability analysis method: Alpha.
4 Results and Analysis
Structural equat ion model ing ( SEM ) , which is the
compound of path analysis and factor ana lys i s , has
more outs tanding advantages than tradit ional regression
analys is . It can deal with mul t i - independen t s and allow
of latent variables composed of several exogenous and
est imate the fit statistics of the overall model 1 7 ] .
Therefore , the research uses L ISREL8 . 2 as the
statistical tool , which is a software for s tructural
equat ion model ing. The result of overall model fitness
supports the conceptual m o d e l , with a goodness of fit
index ( GFI ) of 0 . 91 ; an adjusted goodness of fit
index ( A G F I ) of 0 . 8 8 ; a root mean square error of
approximation ( RMSEA ) of 0 . 061 ; a ch i - square of
1263 (χ2/df = 4 . 5 1 ) ; a comparat ive fit index ( C F I )
of 0 . 85 ; a normed incrementa l fit index ( N F I ) of
0 . 8 2 . The path coefficient of the SEM model is shown
Fig. 2 .
Fig. 2 Path coefficient of S E M
The path coefficient γ is a basic validate which
displays the correlation between different latent
var iables .
Hypothesis Hl predicts that the good condit ions of
t raining and learning new technology enterpr ise provide
for employees will r educe their workload. However ,
contrary to the p red ic t ion , the relat ionship between the
good condition of training and learning new technology
and e m p l o y e e s ' work load was significantly positive ( y
= 0 . 11 ) . Hypothesis H 2 , which predicts that the good
condit ions of training and learning new technology
enterpr ise provides for employees can reduce the
WANG Kanliang (-ΞΕΤΟ 8.) et a l : Empirical Study of Coping Strategies for Computer-Related 759
complexity of new technology perceived by t h e m , was
partially suppor ted . The good condit ions of training and
learning new technology are negatively correlated to the
extent of invading individual life and privacy. But it is
not significant.
Hypothesis H 3 , which states that technology support
center can decrease e m p l o y e e s ' work load , was not
supported from the result of path analysis . Hypothesis
H 4 predicts that technology support center will r educe
the complexity of new technology perceived by them.
According to the path coefficient, enterprise build
technology support center is significantly negative to the
complexity of new technology. S o , it was strongly
suppor ted . Hypothesis H 5 , which states that
technology support center will decrease the insecurity
of new technology perceived by t h e m , was also strongly
suppor ted .
Hypothesis H 6 , which states that e m p l o y e e s '
part icipat ion in the process of the introduction of new
technology will r educe the complexity of new
technology perceived by t h e m , was not suppor ted .
Hypothesis H 7 , which states that e m p l o y e e s '
part icipat ion in the process of the introduction of new
technology will r educe the insecurity of new technology
perceived by t h e m , was also not suppor ted .
This research also tested the relat ionship between the
technostress creators . We can see from Fig. 1 , the
impact of techno-complexi ty on techno-over loading ,
t echno- invas ion , and techno- insecur i ty (β) is 0 . 2 7 ,
0 . 3 2 , and 0 . 3 0 , respect ively. The impact of t echno-
overloading on techno- invasion (β) is 0 . 4 2 .
Therefore , we can conclude that techno-overload could
increase t echno- invas ion ; the techno-complexi ty could
increase t echno- invas ion ; the techno-complexi ty could
increase t echno- insecur i ty ; the techno-complexi ty
could increase techno-over load.
The reason why Hypothesis Hl was not supported can
be explained as follows. Employees always need to
take much more time to learn new technology.
However , their routine work and task did not decrease
at all . S o , during a short pe r iod , t raining and learning
activities may increase e m p l o y e e s ' work load and
perceived stress. From the long r u n , the good
condit ions of training and learning new technology
make employees learn new technology easily and more
efficiently. In the current r e s e a r c h , Hypothesis H u was
supported which states that the complexity of new
technology will increase e m p l o y e e s ' work load.
Therefore , the good condit ions of training and learning
new technology enterprise provides for employees are
not helpless for decreas ing their work load. We can
conclude that the good condit ions of training and
learning new technology that the enterpr ise provides for
employees cannot reduce their work load directly. But
it can indirectly reduce their work load by decreas ing
the complexity of new technology. T h u s , it can relieve
e m p l o y e e s ' computer- re la ted technost ress .
The reason why Hypothesis H 3 has not been
supported can be explained as follows. The relat ionship
between technology support center and e m p l o y e e s '
work load is posit ive. W h e n computer system in work
place encounters t roub les , the busy employees such as
tellers of a bank office may have a rest for a while . If
technology support center resolves the problem in a few
m i n u t e s , employees have to resume their routine work.
S o , they may perceive an increase of work load from
the psychological perspect ive . However , technology
support center which is efficient and professional can
help employees to learn new technology and resolve
problems in t ime. T h u s , the routine works become
much easier . Employees also perceive a decrease of
work load from the long-run. Therefore , technology
support center may indirectly reduce e m p l o y e e s ' work-
loading and alleviate their computer- re la ted
technost ress .
We can also provide an explanat ion for the rejection
of Hypothesis H 6 and Hypothesis H 7 . Coch and French
conducted a systematic research on the phenomenon
that people resist to c h a n g e [ 1 8 ] . They found that
introducing a part icipat ion mechan i sm could notably
decrease p e o p l e ' s res is tance to change . However ,
contrary to the r e s e a r c h , part icipat ion mechan ism does
not depress the complexity and insecurity of new
technology perceived by the employees . It could be
resul ted from the re luc tance of employees to be
involved in the introduction of new technology but were
forced to do so. Locke and Schweiger identified an
addit ional d imension of part icipat ive m a n a g e m e n t ,
which varies from forced part icipat ion to voluntary
part icipat ion 1 9 ] . The dist inction between forced and
voluntary part icipat ion is important for unders tanding
the affective context in which part icipat ion occurs . The
at t i tudes of both management and non-management
personnel may be more antagonist ic than when
part icipat ion in decision making is pract iced
voluntarily. Consequen t ly , in order to alleviate
computer- re la ted technostress in the process of
in t roduct ion , it should be recommended that voluntary
part icipat ion is more product ive .
5 Conclusions Based on the summaries of the typical si tuations of
760 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2 0 0 5 , 1 0 ( S I ) : 753 - 7 6 0
potential technostress and all k inds of coping
s t ra tegies , the paper proposed a framework of the
impact of coping strategies on computer- re la ted
technostress among Chinese employees and tested 11
hypotheses by SEM. We reached three main
conclusions from the study. Firs t , the good conditions of
training and learning enterprises provide for employees
can decrease the complexity of new technology, and
alleviate computer-related technostress. Secondly,
technology support center can decrease the complexity of
new technology, and alleviate computer-related
technostress . Thirdly , technology support center can
decrease the insecurity of new technology, and alleviate
computer-related technostress.
This paper contr ibutes to the field of technostress by
providing a conceptual framework of the relat ionship of
technostress and stressors and a refined inst rument of
computer- re la ted technost ress . The paper also provides
several validated coping strategies of computer- re la ted
technostress to professionals. By using the coping
strategies efficiently, it is hopeful that the adoption of
computer- re la ted appl icat ions will be more p roduc t ive ,
and employees ' job efficiency will be increased and
en t e rp r i s e ' competi t ion advantages be enhanced .
One limitation of our study is that the scope of
s a m p l e , which may lead to excessive convergence in
zones and demographic var iables . The second
limitation is that we did not consider the impact of
g e n d e r , a g e , and educat ion l eve l , which may moderate
the findings of the paper . For e x a m p l e , the receptivity
of new technology among employees with different
educat ion levels var ies . S o , they may have different
percept ions under completely similar environment .
F ina l ly , an important limitation is that this study has
not separated computer- re la ted technostress from job
stress effectively.
Research about computer- re la ted technostress in
Chinese enterpr ises is a new and growing field. Fur ther
researches on the differences of computer- re la ted
technostress are called for, such as the differences
across indus t r i e s , organizat ions , and individuals .
References
[ 1 ] C N N I C ( 2 0 0 5 ) . The 15th Chinese In te rne t
deve lopment report , h t t p : / / w w w . c n n i c . n e t . c n , Jan .
2 5 , 2 0 0 5 .
2 ] Brod C. T e c h n o s t r e s s : The H u m a n Cost of the
Computer Revolut ion . R e a d i n g s , M A : Addison-
W e s l e y , 1984 : 1 - 3 .
3 ] Wei l Μ Μ, Rosen L D. T e c h n o S t r e s s : Coping with
Technology @ W O R K @ HOME @ PLAY. New Y o r k :
John Wiley & S o n s , 1997 : 15 - 2 0 , 1 9 0 - 2 0 4 .
4 ] Bloom A J. An anxiety managemen t approach to
compute rphob ia . Training and Development Journal,
1 9 8 5 , 3 9 ( 1 ) : 9 0 - 9 4 .
5 ] Doronina Ο V. Fear of compute r . Russian Education
and Society, 1 9 9 5 , 3 7 ( 2 ) : 1 0 - 2 8 .
6 ] Ragu-Na than B , Ragu-Na than T S , Tu Q. A
l a rge - sca l e , mul t ina t iona l invest igat ion of t echno-s t ress
and its impac t on information technology ( I T )
workforce product iv i ty . Resea rch Proposal Submi t ted to
IT Resea rch Division of the U. S. Nat ional Sc ience
Founda t ion . 2002 .
7 ] Monat A , Lazarus R S. Stress and Cop ing , 3rd Ed .
New Y o r k : Columbia Univ. P r e s s , 1991 : 1 - 1 5 .
8 ] Ha rpe r S. Managing t echnos t ress in UK l i b r a r i e s : A
rea l is t ic gu ide . Ariadne Magazine, 2 0 0 0 , ( 2 5 ) .
9 ] Clark K, Kalin S. Technos t r e s sed out? How to cope in
the digital age. Library Journal, 1 9 9 6 , 1 2 1 ( 1 3 ) :
3 0 - 3 2 .
10 ] Xu Xiaodong. The Job Stress and Management in
Modern Organizat ion. China Labors P r e s s , 1 9 9 9 :
33 —35. ( i n C h i n e s e )
11 ] Ray Ε Β , Miller Κ I. The inf luence of communica t ion
s t ruc ture and social suppor t on job s t ress and burnout .
Management Communication Quarterly, 1 9 9 1 , 4 : 5 0 6 .
12 ] Albrech t Τ L , Ade lman Μ Β. Communica t ing Social
Support . Newbury P a r k , C A : Sage , 1987.
13 ] Jackson S E. Par t ic ipa t ion in dec is ion making as a
strategy for r educ ing job- re la ted s t ra in . Journal of
Applied Psychology, 1 9 8 3 , 68 : 3 - 19.
14 ] Lawrence Ρ R. How to deal with r e s i s t ance to change .
Harvard Business Review , 1969 , 47 ( 1 ) : 4 — 12.
15 ] Pedhazu r Ε J , Schmelk in L P. M e a s u r e m e n t , Des ign ,
and A n a l y s i s : An In tegra ted Approach . N J : H i l l s d a l e ,
1 9 9 1 : 6 0 3 .
16 ] Nunnal ly J C. Psychomet r ic Theory , 2nd Ed. New
Y o r k : McGraw-Hi l l , 1978 .
17 ] Hou J ie ta i . S t ruc tura l Equa t ion Model and Its
Appl ica t ions . Educa t iona l Sc ience Pub l i sh ing House of
C h i n a , 2 0 0 5 : 1 2 - 15 . ( i n C h i n e s e )
18 ] Coch L , F rench J R Ρ Jr . Overcoming res i s t ance to
change . Human Relations, 1 9 4 8 , 1 ( 4 ) : 512 —532.
19 ] Locke Ε Α , Schweiger D M. Par t ic ipa t ion in
d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g : One more look. I n : Staw Β Μ , ed.
Resea rch in Organiza t ional Behav io r , Volume 1.
G r e e n w i c h , C T : JAI P r e s s , 1979 .