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.

Emilie Vayre,Anne-Marie Vonthron

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02118

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.

Highlights

Advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly prevalent in companies and are revolutionizing work habits
The results showed that both negative work–non-work interference (WNWI) and positive WNWI were positively associated with higher levels of problematic Internet uses and absorption
High-intensity uses of the Internet for personal purposes fostered negative WNWI and problematic Internet use, whereas it diminished work engagement

Summary

Introduction

Advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly prevalent in companies and are revolutionizing work habits. A growing number of employees work both at home and at their company’s offices via ICTs, to such an extent that some researchers find that work is being “offshored” into the domestic sphere (Halford, 2005). This reconfiguration of work times and places has consequences on work behaviors, individuals’ relationships to work, and the boundary between work and personal life. The central purpose of the current study is, first, to explore work-related Internet uses, both in and outside traditional workplaces and hours. A complementary goal of this study is to identify and control the potential role of socio-demographic and situational characteristics both on the Internet uses for professional purposes and on the outcome variables considered

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