The dark side of after-hours technology-mediated interruptions for supervisors: the roles of information overload and IT experience
摘要
Existing research on after-hours technology-mediated interruptions (TMI) has primarily focused on the interruptees. This study shifts the focus from the interruptees to the interrupters (i.e., supervisors) and explores how supervisors’ after-hours TMI affects their psychological and behavioral outcomes. Integrating the conservation of resources (COR) theory and work-life interface literature, the study tests the mediating role of information overload and the moderating effect of IT experience. Analyzing experience sampling data from 113 participants over 10 working days, the results reveal that supervisors’ after-hours TMI is positively associated with information overload, which in turn increases both work and nonwork exhaustion and reduces performance in both areas. Moreover, the relationship between after-hours TMI and information overload is moderated by IT experience, i.e., when supervisor have higher levels of IT experience, the relationship is lower (vs. higher). In conclusion, this study reveals how and when supervisors’ after-hours TMI negatively impacts their own psychological and behavioral outcomes.