Work-Related Use Of Information And Communication Technologies And Work-Related Well-Being

With the development of information and communication technologies over the last decade,a new era of connectivity for social and work purpose has come,and work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours(referred to as "W_ICTs")has become quite popular.W_ICTs has an extensive and profound influence on employees' work and family lives.Previous research of W_ICTs has been primarily focusing on its negative effect on individuals' non-work lives.However,the potential negative effects of W_ICTs on employees' work-related outcomes have been largely overlooked.As the links between employees and employers are becoming more and more loose in the information era,work-related well-being has become the"glue" between employees and employers.Meanwhile,improving employees' work-related well-being is becoming a popular employee incentive and retention strategy.Following this background,the potential influence of W_ICTs on employees' work-related well-being has recently attracted the attention of many researchers.However,the findings have not been consistent.The primary objective of this study was to gain more insight into the influence of W_ICTs on work-related well-being as well as the potential boundary conditions of this relationship.Specifically,drawing on work-family boundary theory and system theory,the present study examined the moderating effect of couple's work-family boundary management profile on the relationship between W_ICTs and work-related well-being using a variable-centered approach as well as a person-centered approach.Four studies were conducted at the within-person level,between-person level and couple level,respectively.The study at the within-person level was conducted to examine the relationship between daily W_ICTs and daily work-related well-being,using a sample of 75 full-time workers surveyed over a 5 working-day period.Results showed that daily W_ICTs was negatively related to work-related well-being in the following day through daily work-related well-being,providing information for understanding how the daily experience of W_ICTs might translate into long-term damage on work-related well-being.The studies at the between-person level were conducted to test the long-term damage of W_ICTs on work-related well-being,and to examine the moderating effects of the three dimensions of work-family boundary management profile on this process.First,using a sample of 447 college counselors,we found that W_ICTs was positively related to counselors' emotional exhaustion,and this relationship would be weaker for individuals with higher work-home integration preference.Second,using a sample of 309 primary and secondary school teachers,we found W_ICTs had a positive association with emotional exhaustion,and this relationship was be weaker for individuals with more work-family centrality.Finally,using a sample of full-time 985 employees,we also found that W_ICTs was positively related to emotional exhaustion and meanwhile negatively related to job satisfaction.Moreover,work-family boundary control weakened the negative influence of W_ICTs on job satisfaction,while the moderating of work-family boundary control on the relationship between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion was not significant.A person-centered approach was further used to test long-term damage of W_ICTs on work-related well-being at the between-person level.Specifically,we explored the types of work-family boundary management profile using its three dimensions(i.e.,work-family boundary management preference,work-family centrality,and work-family boundary control),and examined the moderating effects of work-family boundary management profile type on the relationship between W_ICTs and work-related well-being.The participants were 985 employees.Results of latent profile analysis showed that workers were clustered into three different types of work-family boundary management profile(i.e.,family-guardians,integrators,and synergy-advocators)with varying configurations of work-family boundary management preference,work-family centrality,and work-family boundary control.Family-guardians were family-centric individuals with the lowest work-family integration preference.Integrators were fusion lovers with the highest work-family integration preference.Synergy-advocators were dual-centric with the lower level of work-family integration preference.Furthermore,the types of work-family boundary management profile moderated the relationship between W_ICTs and work-related well-being,and work-family conflict mediated this interacting effect.Specifically,the potential inducing effect of W_ICTs on work-family conflict as well as the damaging effect on work-related well-being was highest for family-guardians,moderate for synergy-advocators,and not significant for integrators.In addition,regardless of the level of work-family centrality and work-family boundary control,work-family boundary management profile with higher work-family integration preference related to lower negative effect of W_ICTs on work-related well-being.The study at the couple level was conducted to uncover the potential influence of employees'partner on the relationship between employees' W_ICTs and work-related well-being among 591 dual-earner couples.Results showed that employees' W_ICTs was negatively associated with their work-related well-being through partner satisfaction towards their work time schedule,and partner's type of work-family boundary management profile moderated this mediating effect.Specifically,the mediating effect was highest when partners were family-guardians,moderate when partners were synergy-advocators,and not significant when partners were integrators.The theoretical contributions of this dissertation are four-fold.First,our finding that couple's work-family management profiles moderate the negative relationship between W_ICTs and work-related well-being helps us clarify the inconsistent results of previous studies.Second,this dissertation helps to understand the overall psychological trade-offs individuals make as they use W_ICTs,by using the person-centered approach to test the individual differences in the relationship between W_ICTs and work-related well-being.Third,we found that W_ICTs was negatively related to employees' work-related well-being through decreased partner satisfaction towards the employees'work-time schedule,and this finding provides a new perspective to understanding the mechanism of the effect of W_ICTs on work-related well-being.Finally,this dissertation expands work-family boundary theory form the individual level to the couple level by testing the moderating effect of partners' work-family boundary management profile type on the relationship between employees'W_ICTs and work-related well-being.Meanwhile,the findings of this dissertation are valuable for organizations and employees to manage W_ICTs.