The Tired Helpers: How Media Synchronicity and Technology-Mediated Interpersonal Helping Impact Technostress in Remote Knowledge Work

Abstract

The rise of remote work has highlighted the critical role of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in shaping organizational behaviors. While ICTs help facilitate efficient communication and collaboration, they have also given rise to a pervasive issue, technostress — stress experienced by end-users in organizations as a result of their ICT use.. Technostress impacts employee well-being and productivity and is particularly important to understand in the growing context of remote work. This dissertation examines how Technology-Mediated Interpersonal Helping (TMIH), a form of extra-role Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) facilitated by ICTs, impacts employee well-being and productivity within remote knowledge work. Drawing on Media Synchronicity Theory, which explains how communication media supports coordinated communication, and Social Presence Theory, which describes the extent to which a communication medium conveys the realness of the interacting other, this dissertation offers a new perspective on technostress by exploring the cognitive and emotional mechanisms through which TMIH affects remote workers’ well-being and productivity. Two studies were conducted: the first study found that using synchronous ICTs to help coworkers while working remotely reduces interruption overload and psychological transition. Surprisingly, intensity and extended TMIH positively influences productivity. Lastly, interruption overload, psychological transition, and task closure served as key cognitive mediators linking TMIH with technostress outcomes. The second study examined social presence as an emotional mediator and was found to alleviate technostress and improve employee wellbeing. However, social presence also increased fatigue. This dissertation contributes to research by integrating Media Synchronicity Theory and Social Presence Theory to explain how TMIH shape technostress experiences in remote work. A key contribution of this dissertation is that media synchronicity helps alleviate technology-induced strain, offering a pathway for organizations to manage technostress through strategic ICT choices.