Towards a bright side of technostress in higher education teachers: Identifying several antecedents and outcomes of techno-eustress

Abstract

Digital education initiatives require higher education teachers (HETs) to include more technology in teaching and research. HETs therefore may experience technostress, a “dark side” phenomenon that is commonly framed as detrimental to individuals, organizations, and society. However, recent research reveals that there is a “bright side” of technostress called techno-eustress, which is beneficial to individuals, organizations, and society. Little is known about how HETs experience techno-eustress, and specifically, what technological, individual, and organizational factors influence techno-eustress in HETs and how techno-eustress impacts work-related outcomes. This study aims to identify the antecedents and outcomes of techno-eustress experienced by HETs. The study specifically investigates how three characteristics of technology (usefulness, reliability, and complexity), three individual traits (IT mindfulness, coping flexibility, and age), and two organizational mechanisms (synergic literacy and technical support) impact feelings of techno-eustress, and how feelings of techno-eustress influence job satisfaction and work performance. A mixed-methods research design was used to conduct the investigation. Semi-structured interviews helped to build an empirical research model, which was tested through survey data collected from 1107 Portuguese HETs. Results indicate that, although with a small effect, usefulness, synergic literacy, IT mindfulness, and coping flexibility are positive predictors of techno-eustress, and techno-eustress is positively related to job satisfaction and work performance.