Technostress Among University Teachers in Higher Education: A Study Using Multidimensional Person-Environment Misfit Theory

Abstract

To investigate the phenomenon of technostress among university teachers in higher education, a multidimensional person-environment misfit framework of technostress was proposed and validated by 343 teachers from universities in China. The findings indicate that person-organization (P-O) misfit, person-technology (P-T) misfit, and person-people (P-P) misfit largely captured how university teachers interact with multiple dimensions of the higher education environment in an imbalanced way that causes technostress. P-O misfit predicted P-T misfit and P-P misfit. Relationships between multidimensional technostress and job performance were investigated. It was found that university requirements related to the use of ICT and the suitability of ICT for university teachers’ work were critical factors affecting their job performance. In addition, a comparison was made among university teachers from different grade levels, revealing that university management related to ICT use tended to affect university teachers of higher-grade levels more than those of lower-grade levels in generating technostress.

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

“…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.…”

Teacher Technostress in the Chilean School System

“…On the other hand, educational processes have been directly considered; studies on technostress have been identified in library processes [ 45 , 46 ] and there are other publications that advise about technostress among university students and their learning processes [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], computer literacy, and digital thinking [ 51 ], as well as with their use of digital textbooks [ 52 ]. However, the study group of interest for this research is that related to the teaching role [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ].…”

“…That support influences technostress, which, in turn, affects the intention of the technological use by teachers [ 56 ]. Recent research on Indian and Chinese higher education emphasizes the presence of techno-stressors and techno-inhibitors that influence job satisfaction; organizational commitment; negative affectivity due to work; and, above all, technology-mediated performance [ 55 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. In general, the lack of adaptation between people and their work environment affects their job performance [ 57 ].…”

“…Recent research on Indian and Chinese higher education emphasizes the presence of techno-stressors and techno-inhibitors that influence job satisfaction; organizational commitment; negative affectivity due to work; and, above all, technology-mediated performance [ 55 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. In general, the lack of adaptation between people and their work environment affects their job performance [ 57 ]. Studies that focus on South Korean and Chinese education also incorporate a model based on teaching measurement based technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) as a study variable [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 ].…”

“…In general, the lack of adaptation between people and their work environment affects their job performance [ 57 ]. Studies that focus on South Korean and Chinese education also incorporate a model based on teaching measurement based technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) as a study variable [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 ].…”