Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 79, February 2018, Pages 94-104
Computers in Human Behavior

Full length article
Work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) and emotional exhaustion: A mediated moderation model

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.023Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Work-Related use of ICTs after hours (W_ICTs) is common in China.

  • W_ICTs is a risk factor of emotional exhaustion for Chinese employees.

  • Preference to integrate work and family roles attenuates the inducing effect.

  • Work schedule and location control is a key mediator of this moderation effect.

Abstract

Work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) has been found to have an extensive and profound influence on employees’ work and family lives. In the current study, we examined the effect of W_ICTs on employee emotional exhaustion and investigated the underlying mechanism with two different samples. In Study 1, data from 447 Chinese college counselors showed that W_ICTs was positively associated with emotional exhaustion, but this positive relationship was weaker for individuals with higher work-home integration preference. These findings were replicated in Study 2, using a sample of 340 full-time employees from different companies in different industries in China. Further analyses showed that work schedule and location control mediated the moderating effect of work-home integration preference on the relationship between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion. These findings provide strong support for the proposed mediated moderation model, and demonstrate the importance of adopting a needs-supplies fit perspective to understanding the influence of W_ICTs.

Introduction

With the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the last decade, work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) has become quite common. Nowadays, many employees are able to work anywhere, anytime depending on their preferences. However, this new way of working might affect individuals' work and family lives in both positive and negative ways. Previous findings suggested that W_ICTs is a double-edged sword (Ma et al., 2016b, Ter Hoeven et al., 2016). On one hand, W_ICTs can promote the flexibility to meet job demands (Leung, 2011), and it has been found to positively relate to job satisfaction (e.g., Diaz, Chiaburu, Zimmerman, & Boswell, 2012). On the other hand, W_ICTs can also be a job demand that impairs individuals’ well-being (e.g., Boswell and Olson-Buchanan, 2007, Derks et al., 2014). Given the widespread use of ICTs and the potential benefits of W_ICTs, it would be neither realistic nor desirable to ban W_ICTs (Sonnentag & Braun, 2013). Hence, it is particularly important to uncover the negative effects of W_ICTs and then develop effective interventions to mitigate them.

In line with this rationale, the current study tested the effect of W_ICTs on emotional exhaustion and investigated its boundary conditions. As a core dimension of burnout, emotional exhaustion has received considerable research attention (e.g., Cropanzano et al., 2003, Grandey, 2003, Wright and Cropanzano, 1998). It has been found that emotional exhaustion is harmful to individuals’ physical and mental health (Huang, Du, Chen, Yang, & Huang, 2011), as well as their work performance (Karatepe, 2013). Although several studies have examined the relationship between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion, the findings have been inconsistent (e.g. Derks et al., 2014, Reinke and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014). In the current study, we proposed and empirically tested a mediated moderation model in which the relationship between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion would be moderated by work-home integration preference, and work schedule and location control would mediate this interaction effect.

Section snippets

W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion

According to Boundary Theory, individuals may actively create and maintain segmented or integrated boundaries between work and family domains (Ashforth et al., 2000, Clark, 2000). A segmented boundary distinctly defines when and where work and family responsibilities should each be carried out, and helps to simplify and classify the life environment; in contrast, with an integrated boundary work and family domains are overlapping and closely related (Hislop & Axtell, 2011). Because the demands

Participants

Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants, and the participants' demographic information of the two studies are summarized in Table 1.

Study 1. We sent a survey to 602 college counselors from universities in the central region of mainland China, and received 447 responses (response rate = 74.25%). Two hundred and nineteen (48.99%) of them were women and 228 (50.01%) were men. The mean age of these counselors was 30.85 years old (SD = 4.72 years). Most counselors (326, 72.93%) were

Discriminant and convergent validity

Although all the measures in the present study demonstrated good reliability and validity in previous studies, it is still important to determine if these instruments distinct from each other in the current study. Thus, before testing the hypotheses, we assessed the discriminant validity of the focal variable measures using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). As Table 2 shows, results from Study 1 showed that the hypothesized three-factor model (W_ICTs, work-home integration preference, and

Discussion

In this study, we tested whether work-home integration preference moderated the effect of W_ICTs on emotional exhaustion, and whether work schedule and location control mediated this moderation effect. Results from two studies found that W_ICTs positively predicted emotional exhaustion at low but not at high levels of work-home integration preference. Further, work schedule and location control acted as a key mediating variable. Specifically, the effect of the interaction (between W_ICTs and

Conclusion

In summary, this study is an important step forward in investigating the boundary conditions of the relationship between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion. It shows that work-home integration preference serves as a potential moderator, and the inducing impact of W_ICTs on emotional exhaustion appears to be weaker for employees with higher level of work-home integration preference, pointing out the importance of individual differences on managing work and home boundaries in coping with potential

Acknowledgements

The present research was supported by the Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31200795), the Project of the Major Research plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91324201), the Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 16CGL044) and self-determined research funds of CCNU from the colleges' basic research and operation of MOE (CCNU14Z02015). No financial interest in present research.

References (75)

  • R. Thomson et al.

    A socio-ecological approach to national differences in online privacy concern: The role of relational mobility and trust

    Computers in Human Behavior

    (2015)
  • N. Xanidis et al.

    The association between the use of social network sites, sleep quality and cognitive function during the day

    Computers in Human Behavior

    (2016)
  • B.E. Ashforth et al.

    All in a day's work: Boundaries and micro role transitions

    Academy of Management Review

    (2000)
  • J.S. Boles et al.

    Role stress, work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion: Inter-relationships and effects on some work-related consequences

    Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

    (1997)
  • W.R. Boswell et al.

    The use of communication technologies after hours: The role of work attitudes and work-life conflict

    Journal of Management

    (2007)
  • M.M. Butts et al.

    Hot buttons and time sinks: The effects of electronic communication during nonwork time on emotions and work-nonwork conflict

    Academy of Management Journal

    (2015)
  • F. Cavazotte et al.

    Corporate smart phones: Professionals' conscious engagement in escalating work connectivity

    New Technology, Work and Employment

    (2014)
  • N. Chesley

    Blurring boundaries? Linking technology use, spillover, individual distress, and family satisfaction

    Journal of Marriage and Family

    (2005)
  • China Internet Network Information Center

    Thirty-seventh statistical report on Internet development in China. Beijing

    (2016)
  • S.C. Clark

    Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance

    Human Relations

    (2000)
  • R. Cropanzano et al.

    The relationship of emotional exhaustion to work attitudes, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors

    Journal of Applied Psychology

    (2003)
  • E. Demerouti et al.

    The job demands-resources model of burnout

    Journal of Applied Psychology

    (2001)
  • D. Derks et al.

    Work-related smartphone use, work–family conflict and family role performance: The role of segmentation preference

    Human Relations

    (2016)
  • D. Derks et al.

    Smartphone use and work–home interference: The moderating role of social norms and employee work engagement

    Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

    (2015)
  • D. Derks et al.

    A diary study on work-related smartphone use, psychological detachment and exhaustion: Examining the role of the perceived segmentation norm

    Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

    (2014)
  • L. Duxbury et al.

    Mobile technology and boundary permeability

    British Journal of Management

    (2014)
  • D.C. Ganster et al.

    Control in the workplace

    International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology

    (1989)
  • P.A. Goff et al.

    The essence of innocence: Consequences of dehumanizing Black children

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2014)
  • A.G. Golden et al.

    Work-life boundary management and the personal digital assistant

    Human Relations

    (2007)
  • A.A. Grandey

    When “the show must go on”: Surface acting and deep acting as determinants of emotional exhaustion and peer-rated service delivery

    Academy of Management Journal

    (2003)
  • D.B. Greenberger et al.

    Development and application of a model of personal control in organizations

    Academy of Management Review

    (1986)
  • J.H. Greenhaus et al.

    When work and family are allies: A theory of work-family enrichment

    Academy of Management Review

    (2006)
  • J.F. Hair et al.

    Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective

    (2010)
  • G.B. Hall et al.

    Job demands, work-family conflict, and emotional exhaustion in police officers: A longitudinal test of competing theories

    Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

    (2010)
  • M. Hätinen et al.

    Comparing two burnout interventions: Perceived job control mediates decreases in burnout

    International Journal of Stress Management

    (2007)
  • A.F. Hayes

    Process: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling

    (2012)
  • S.E. Hobfoll

    Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress

    American Psychologist

    (1989)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text