You and Your Technostress: Relating Personality Dimensions to ICT-Related Stress

Abstract

Personality trait research with self and observer ratings has been previously applied in psychology, however, in the HRM field, most studies on personality features have been limited to self-assessment data. We investigate how personality is associated with the stress related to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which has been termed by a number of scholars as technostress. Drawing from both prior research on personality dimensions and studies on antecedents of technostress, we examine the relationship between technostress creators and technostress antecedents such as personality traits, differences between self and observer ratings, availability through ICTs and use of ICTs. Our findings, based on ordered regression analysis, show that pseudo-extraverts and pseudo-conscientious individuals are likely to experience lower levels of techno-invasion. Moreover, results demonstrate that individuals with high levels of conscientiousness and extraversion tend to have higher levels of techno-insecurity and techno-overload, respectively. Finally, we also find that increased availability through ICTs is associated with high levels of techno-invasion. Interestingly, the use of ICTs has a negative effect on technostress. The implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.