Exploring the Relationship Between Personality Traits, eMail Overload and Productivity in the Workplace

As email use becomes more ubiquitous in organisations, negative effects that stem from its use are becoming more prevalent. This study classifies Email Overload as a negative product of email use. It investigates the link between the personality traits Self Esteem and Locus of Control and Email Overload. Furthermore it proposes a link between the level of perceived Email Overload and individual productivity in the work place. A sample of 239 respondents from an engineering organisation was collected for this study. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) results suggest a strong negative relationship between Email Overload and productivity, indicating that as perceived Email Overload increases, a person’s productivity decreases. Weaker links were formed with Self Esteem and Locus of Control to Email Overload

The Influence of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control on Perceived Email Overload

As email use becomes more ubiquitous in organisations, negative effects that stem from its use are becoming more prevalent. This study considers Email Overload as a negative product of email use. It explores the link between the personality traits of Self-esteem and Locus of Control and Email Overload. Furthermore it proposes a link between the level of perceived Email Overload and individual productivity in the work place. A sample of 239 respondents from an engineering organisation was collected for this study. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) results suggest a strong negative relationship between Email Overload and productivity, indicating that as perceived Email Overload increases, a person’s productivity decreases. Weaker links were formed with Self-esteem and Locus of Control to Email Overload

Email stress and its management in public sector organisations

Email stress: what are its causes? how is it measured? can it be solved? The literature review revealed that, despite the term being well used and recognised, discussions surrounding the root cause of email stress had reached little consensus and the concept was not well understood. By its very nature, email stress theory had fallen victim to the academic debate between psychological vs. physiological interpretations of stress which, as a result of either choice, limited more progressive research. Likewise an array of email management strategies had been identified however, whilst some generated quick successes, they appeared to suffer longevity issues and were not maintained a few months after implementation in the workplace. The purpose of this research was to determine whether email communication causes employees psychological and physiological stress and investigate the impact of email management strategies in the workplace. A pragmatic philosophy placed the research problem as central and valued the differences between paradigms to promote a mixed-method approach to research. The decision to pair both case studies and action research methods ensured a framework for presenting results and an actionable solution was achieved. In direct response to the research aims an original email stress measuring methodology was devised that combined various data collection tools to measure and investigate email stress. This research design was applied and evaluated ‘email free time’ and email filing at the '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''. Results of the study showed an increased stress response to occur during email use, i.e. caused employees’ increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and perceived stress, and a number of adverse effects such as managing staff via email, social detachment, blame and cover-yourback culture were identified. Findings revealed ‘email free time’ was not a desirable strategy to manage email stress and related stressors, whereas email filing was found more beneficial to workers well-being. Consolidation of the data gathered from the literature review and research findings were used to develop an initial conceptualisation of email stress in the form of two models, i.e. explanatory and action. A focus group was conducted to validate the proposed models and a further investigation at the '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' was carried out to critique the use of an email training intervention. The results showed some improvements to employees’ behaviour after the training, e.g. improved writing style, email checked on fewer occasions each day and fewer sufferers of email addiction. The initial models devised, alongside the latter findings, were synthesised to create a single integrative multidimensional model of email stress and management strategies. The model made an original contribution to knowledge in terms of theory, i.e. to conceptualise email stress, and practice, i.e. to offer practical solutions to the email worker

Exploring the relationships of Email Overload, Stress and Burnout in Social Workers

Technostress is the inability to cope with information and communication technology which may result in stress and burnout. Email overload, stress, and burnout among social workers is a phenomenon that may impact retention in social and human service organizations. This mixed methods design uses the transactional theory of stress as the theoretical framework for measuring the relationship of email overload (email invasion, email volume, and email rapid response extraction) to stress and burnout in the social work workforce. This dissertation also explores the generational cohort, gender, and social work degree as predictors of email overload. Participants in this study were social workers recruited through one of three membership organizations: Juvenile Detentions Centers and Alternative Programs (JDCAP), National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS), and the Pennsylvania Council for Children, Youth, and Family Services (PCCYFS). Students enrolled at Kutztown University were also included in this study. There were 119 (N=119) participants that completed the email overload survey and six (N=6) participants that were interviewed. The findings of the study show that email overload was statistically significant and GenXers and Millennials reported higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and poor coping that that of the Boomer generational cohort. Further studies on email overload and technology overload may provide a basis for needed technology self-care strategies for social workers

Systematization of Antecedents and Effects of Workplace Incivility

Based on the literature review, the article presents the systematization of antecedents and effects of workplace incivility. Variables contributing to deviant workplace behaviour (antecedents) are placed within three categories: dispositional, behavioural, and contextual. Dispositional antecedents, which include characteristics of targets (certain demographic characteristics and personality traits) and characteristics of instigators (position and power, attributes, attitudes, and certain personality traits), are presented. After that, behavioural antecedents of targets (such as counterproductive work behaviour, annoying or provocative behaviour, etc.) and instigators (inappropriate conflict management style, “workaholism”, response to negative emotions, etc.) are stated. Furtherly, contextual antecedents that are divided into organizationally-based (organizational change and downsizing, hierarchy and autocracy, lack of organizational justice, inadequate organizational culture and climate, certain negative aspects of e-communication, etc.), and work-based antecedents (job design issues, inappropriate working conditions, performance pressure, etc.) are explained at the end. Finally, negative consequences of workplace incivility on employees and the organization are presented. The article ends with the concluding remarks, the implication of the research, and suggestions for future studies

Emergence of technostress among employees working with physical robots

Despite the growing body of literature on technostress, there is limited knowledge about the emergence of technostress among people working with physical robots. In this paper, we aim to address this research gap by exploring how technostress emerges among employees working with physical robots. The study was based on qualitative online questionnaire responses from 199 present or previous users of robots at work. Based on our data, we identified several robot-related environmental conditions that contributed to perceived work-related stress. In addition, we identified personal and situational factors that influenced perceived stress. Our findings reveal that the emergence of technostress among employees working with physical robots has distinct characteristics, and that the technostressors identified in previous studies are insufficient for explaining stress in this context. Therefore, our study extends the technostress literature and provides insights into employees’ experiences in organizations that use physical robots

Understanding the Effect of Social Media Overload on Academic Performance: A Stressor-Strain-Outcome Perspective

Social media has deeply penetrated into university students’ daily lives, inducing excessive usage that can result in social media overload. However, only few studies have explored the adverse consequences of social media use from a pedagogical perspective. This paper aims to investigate the effects of overload on students’ academic performance and the underlying mechanism. Based on the stressor-strain-outcome model, we propose that information, communication, and social overloads influence technostress and exhaustion of students, which in turn impair their academic performance. Results from a study of 249 Chinese social media users in universities reveal that all three types of overload enhance technostress, but only information overload significantly affect exhaustion. Both technostress and exhaustion have negative effects on academic performance. This study enriches social media literature by identifying a more comprehensive classification of social media-related overload among university students and investigating the exact mechanism of excessive social media use in educational environment

How mobile instant messaging affects public employees’ daily work: An empirical examination based on stressor-strain-outcome model

The phenomenon of excessive instant messaging usage in the workplace has garnered increasing attention in recent years. Despite its pervasiveness, extant literature predominantly focused on the psychological well-being, with the subsequent influences on work performance remaining largely unexplored. Using data from street-level bureaus in China, this study examines how work-oriented mobile instant messaging stressors result in psychological reactions and daily work performance decrement as well. Results demonstrate that information overload, compulsive usage and normative response pressure are significant predictors of strain which was represented by cognitive fatigue, emotional fatigue and invasion of life. These strain constructs can further impair individual’s work performance. The findings from this research provide meaningful theoretical insights and carry practical implications