Lifelogging for Organizational Stress Measurement: Theory and Applications

Abstract

In today’s society, stress is one of the most prevalent phenomena affecting people both in private life and working environments. Despite the fact that academic research has revealed significant insights into the nature of stress in organizations, as well as its antecedents, consequences, and moderating factors, stress researchers still face a number of challenges today. One major challenge is related to construct measurement, particularly if stress is to be understood from a longitudinal perspective, which implies longitudinal measurement of stress and related phenomena. A novel research opportunity has emerged in the form of “lifelogging” in recent years. This concept is based on the idea that unobtrusive computer technology can be used to continuously collect data on an individual’s current state (psychological, physiological, or behavioral) and context (ranging from temperature to social interaction information). Based on a review of the lifelogging literature (N = 155 articles), this article discusses the potential of lifelogging for construct measurement in organizational stress research. The primary contribution of this article is to showcase how modern computer technology can be used to study the temporal nature of stress and related phenomena (e.g., coping with stress) in organizations.