Identifying Work-Related Internet’s Uses—at Work and Outside Usual Workplaces and Hours—and Their Relationships With Work–Home Interface, Work Engagement, and Problematic Internet Behavior

Abstract

Many studies have analyzed the uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for work, with some focusing on use at the office and others on use outside the traditional workplace and workday. However, there is little research encompassing all work uses of ICTs, both in and out of the office, and on the ways in which they affect employees’ attitudes toward their work and quality of life. Thus, the present study aims to (a) explore the links between intensity, places, and time periods of using the Internet for work; (b) examine whether Internet uses for work are related to the perceived impact of work on personal life, work engagement, and Internet addiction. An empirical study was conducted based on a questionnaire survey of 502 executives. We measured their use of the Internet for business purposes both in and outside of the standard workday/workplace; the perceived impact of work on their personal life; their work engagement; and their relationship to the Internet. Four categories of Internet use for work were identified (Cluster analysis). They differed with respect to intensity, places, and time periods dedicated to Internet uses (at standard workplace, at home, while traveling; during a typical workday, a day off, or vacation). The results obtained from Multinomial Logistic Regression show that technological devices provided by the employer and personal uses of the Internet are related to the intensity, places, and time periods of executives’ work-related Internet uses. Furthermore, ANCOVAs reveal that high-intensive, extensive, and porous Internet uses for work appear to foster the permeability between work and personal life, diminish managers’ dedication and vigor at work, and favor Internet addiction. Based on these findings, we discuss the importance of the “right to disconnect” and prevention programs regarding Internet uses, two major issues that attract the attention of organizations as well as public health authorities.

Is There a Sampling Bias in Research on Work-Related Technostress? A Systematic Review of Occupational Exposure to Technostress and the Role of Socioeconomic Position

“…Sample sizes ranged from 152 to 608 employees. The reported occupational sample settings suggest there could be a socioeconomic sampling bias as several studies only sampled (senior) managers and executives [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], academics [ 42 ], employees in the IT industry [ 43 , 44 ] or white collar employees [ 45 , 46 ]. Occupational sample settings were also selected due to a typically higher frequency of ICT use [ 47 , 48 ].…”

“…Having operationalised SEP as job position (senior executives vs. middle managers), Vayre and Vonthron [ 41 ] found no significant differences between both groups. With regard to work engagement, executive officers, CEOs, or senior executives were more dedicated to their work than middle managers.…”

“…Techno-invasion appeared more relevant to occupations with a high SEP. Vayre and Vonthron [ 41 ] try to justify the high SEP in their sample based on findings that suggested frequent ICT users at work are often employees with higher degrees, in middle management or executive jobs [ 56 , 57 ]. They explain that the increase in work hours associated with the growth of ICTs, as well as the use of ICT outside working hours particularly affects managers [ 58 ].…”

“…To date, a sizable number of studies showed signs of falling short of enough variance in SEP for anything more than descriptive analyses [ 41 , 59 ]. For instance, Wang and Li’s (2019) measure of grade levels is vague and conceals that their study comprises only university teachers who represent higher SEP positions.…”

Emergence of Hybrid Time for Media Consumption. Towards a New Research Agenda

“…The growing number of employees carrying out their duties both at work and at home through the extension of new communication techniques has led some researchers to rise the point of reallocation of work to home (Halford, 2005). Psychological aspects of work in work time and outside of its nominal framework were analyzed for managerial staff, together with the provision of mobile equipment for them to extend work into private life (Vayre & Vonthron, 2019). Also researched was the positive impact of new communication technologies on organization of work, communication within an organization, decision taking and fl exibility of workplace and management styles (Bobillier-Chaumon, 2003;Isaac, Campoy, & Kalika, 2007), increase in the autonomy of employees (Lee & Sawyer, 2010;Tremblay, 2014).…”