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The Impact of Interruptions on Technology Usage: Exploring Interdependencies Between Demands from Interruptions, Worker Control, and Role-Based Stress

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Information Systems and Neuroscience

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 10))

Abstract

Mobile technologies have dramatically increased the number of work-related interruptions. In many organizations, employees have to remain accessible and respond to these technology-mediated (T-M) interruptions even after regular work hours. At the same time, most employees have limited freedom to decide how and when they accomplish their tasks, a work condition that renders the explosion of T-M interruptions problematic. When people have limited control over their work environment, they cannot adapt their work schedules and methods to the additional demands from T-M interruptions, potentially leading them to be stressed and, in turn, to shy away from using the technologies that create these interruptions. Hence, we propose that demands from T-M interruptions negatively affect work-related IT-usage via workers’ experiences of stress and that this indirect effect depends on worker control. Psychological and physiological data (salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase) will be collected and analyzed through advanced procedures for testing moderated-mediation effects.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. HEC Montréal, Department of Information Technologies, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Stefan Tams

  2. Department of Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

    Jason Thatcher

  3. Department of CIS, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Manju Ahuja

Authors
  1. Stefan Tams
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  2. Jason Thatcher
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  3. Manju Ahuja
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Tams .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Walton College of Business (room 216), University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA

    Fred D. Davis

  2. University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria & University of Linz, Steyr, Austria

    René Riedl

  3. University of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

    Jan vom Brocke

  4. HEC Montreal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Pierre-Majorique Léger

  5. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA

    Adriane B. Randolph

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Tams, S., Thatcher, J., Ahuja, M. (2015). The Impact of Interruptions on Technology Usage: Exploring Interdependencies Between Demands from Interruptions, Worker Control, and Role-Based Stress. In: Davis, F., Riedl, R., vom Brocke, J., Léger, PM., Randolph, A. (eds) Information Systems and Neuroscience. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18702-0_3

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