When everything is urgent! Mail use and employee well-being

Abstract

Karasek's (1979) demand-control (JDC) model of stress was used to theoretically justify the following hypothesis regarding the relationship between employee email use and well-being: (1) the demands imposed on an employee by their use of email (i.e., email volume, hours spent per week in email, the perceived importance and importance/urgency of the email they send/receive) will predict their perceptions of email overload, (2) perceptions of email overload will predict employee well-being, and (3) work control will moderate the relationships between email demands and email overload. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the paths in the model using a sample of 1491 knowledge workers. Our analysis confirmed that all four conceptualizations of email demands included in our model predicted email overload and that email overload was a significant predictor of perceived stress. Control over work moderated the path between ‘Important and Urgent’ email and email overload, providing partial support for Karasek's buffer hypothesis. This study contributes to the well-being literature by demonstrating that: (1) email overload is a distinct type of role overload, and (2) email-related strain can be mitigated by giving employees more control over their work.