The Dark Side of Information Technology Use
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ItemUnderstanding Digital Events: Process Philosophy and Causal Autonomy( 2020-01-07)This paper argues that the ubiquitous digital networks in which we are increasingly becoming immersed present a threat to our ability to exercise free will. Using process philosophy, and expanding upon understandings of causal autonomy, the paper outlines a thematic analysis of diary studies and interviews gathered in a project exploring the nature of digital experience. It concludes that without mindfulness in both the use and design of digital devices and services we run the risk of allowing such services to direct our daily lives in ways over which we are increasingly losing control.
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ItemHow to Enforce Presenteeism with ICT while Mitigating Technostress – A Case Study( 2020-01-07)We study enforced presenteeism, a source of technostress in which individuals are involuntarily exposed to stimuli from electronic connectivity systems. Drawing on a case study where enforced presenteeism is introduced in the form of a new contact center enterprise software, we analyze bank employees’ technostress before and after a process change that involves implementing a presenteeism-enabling information and communication technology (ICT). We find that prior to the change, employees exhibit high levels of technostress stemming from expected increases in work overload, invasion of privacy, and information overload. However, against all expectations, the employees’ stress levels decrease as a result of the implementation as specific ICT affordances are leveraged in a way that gives employees increased control over their work, increases transparency, and empowers them. We provide theoretical and practical implications for our findings.
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ItemAn Investigation of IT Users’ Emotional Responses to Technostress Creators( 2020-01-07)While prior research on technostress has examined different adverse effects of technostress, the role of emotion has largely been ignored. Emotions play a major role in individuals’ beliefs and guide their behavior and decision making process. Thus, it is essential to understand how IT users emotionally respond under the presence of technostress creators in the workplace. The current paper is an investigation to achieve this objective. The results of the research show that techno-overload and techno-complexity are significant predictors of negative emotions. Moreover, while techno-complexity is negatively associated with positive emotions, techno- uncertainty was positively associated with positive emotions. The influences of other technostress creators, such as techno-invasion and techno-insecurity are less clear. More research is needed to identify outcomes of emotions associated with each technostress creator and to provide a foundation for effective managerial interventions.
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ItemTechno(Stress) and Techno(Distress): Validation of a Specific TechnoStressors Index (TSI) Among Quebec Lawyers( 2020-01-07)The pervasive and ubiquitous characteristics of information technology has been associated to technostress. Current measures oftechnostress do not consider some recent issues of the stress generated by technology in the day-to-day work of lawyers. This paper presents the validation of a 25-item self-report scale (TechnoStressors-Index-TSI) for the study of technostress in lawyers’ professional context. Items were constructed through qualitative exploratory interviews (N=22) and adaptation of existing scales. The scale was tested (N=40) and retested (N=2027) among Quebec lawyers using EFA and CFA. This scale proposes a second order reflexive model of five dimensions to understand technostress. The scale validation among a large sample of professionals helped to fulfill the gap regarding specific techno-stressors to which lawyers are exposed and leading to technostress at work or other health outcomes, such as psychological distress. For further research, it needs to be validated with other professionals to confirm its relevance in different contexts.
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ItemSmartphone Addictions: A Review of Themes, Theories and Future Research Directions( 2020-01-07)This research work presents a literature review on "Smartphone Addiction" (SA). The papers used for this review were retrieved from AIS (All Repositories), Elsevier, Wiley Online, Tailor and Francis and JSTOR databases using the phrase "Smartphone Addiction". In all, 13 AIS top conferences and 31 peer-reviewed journals searched from 2007 to July 2018 returned 1572 papers. This paper details the findings based on the literature assessment of 128 publications. In terms of context and geographical gaps, Asia leads the chart with 39 articles representing 30.5percent and Africa recorded only 1 paper used for this work. Online data collection with global focus had 37 articles representing 28.9percent and quantitative methodology was adopted by 91 articles representing 71.1percent. SA research was more at the micro and meso levels. This review has demonstrated that literature offers several perspectives on SA but failed to establish a causal theory or a model that fully accounted for urge and craving phenomena from an IS design principle perspective to mitigate SA. Also, smartphones are devices (artifacts) that enable users to access and become addicted to applications such as video games, SNSs, emails, etc. Future research should, therefore, focus more on addictive activities and applications on these devices.
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ItemUnderstanding the Relationship between Smartphone Addiction and Well-Being: The Mediation of Mindfulnessand Moderation of Hedonic Apps( 2020-01-07)The advent of handheld devices such as smartphones has changed the way we connect, navigate, and entertain and has been recognized as a revolution in information and communication technologies (ICT). Despite the plethora of benefits of this new technology, concerns have been raised about the unintended adverse consequences to well-being in the form of addictive use. Past research has linked smartphone addiction to negative consequences, but it remains unclear how, why, and when (i.e., under what conditions) smartphone addiction, in turn, is related to well-being. This study attempts to fill this void by addressing these questions through the lens of the stimulus-organism-response framework. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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ItemApproaching Fake News at the Expense of Truth: A Psychophysiological Study of News on Social Media( 2020-01-07)In 2018, sixty-eight percent of adults in America obtained their news from social media sites. During the same period, the amount of fake news online has increased substantially, resulting in increased propagation of false information. The research literature is growing on the effects of fake news on social media, but few studies have examined psychophysiological responses to true and fake news on social media. This research utilizes psychophysiological measures, specifically heart rate variability and skin conductance, to compare the perceived believability of news headlines posted on social media. Our findings indicate that individuals exhibit increased levels of approach behavior to true and fake news on social media. Additionally, higher time spent on social media is related to an increase in approach behavior to fake news. These findings have important implications for research and practice.
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ItemThe Power of Related Articles – Improving Fake News Detection on Social Media Platforms( 2020-01-07)Social media is increasingly used as a platform for news consumption, but it has also become a breeding ground for fake news. This serious threat poses significant challenges to social media providers, society, and science. Several studies have investigated automated approaches to fighting fake news, but little has been done to improve fake news detection on the users’ side. A simple but promising approach could be to broaden users' knowledge to improve the perceptual process, which will improve detection behavior. This study evaluates the impact of a digital nudging approach which aims to fight fake news with the help of related articles. 322 participants took part in an online experiment simulating the Facebook Newsfeed. In addition to a control group, three treatment groups were exposed to different combinations of related articles. Results indicate that the presence of controversial related articles has a positive influence on the detection of fake news.
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