Abstract
Older workers (defined here as 60 years of age and over) are experiencing major problems using modern information technologies (IT). These problems include greater anxiety and more stress when using IT. The proliferation of interruptions mediated by IT is especially problematic for them. Thus, this research has four objectives: (1) to develop a research model explaining which broad-spectrum cognitive mechanisms mediate the impact of age on stress in today’s interruption age, (2) to explain the importance of having interruptions appear at predictable locations on the screen so as to help older workers use IT with greater ease and efficacy, (3) to explain the importance of using calm interruptions (i.e., no animation or aural alert) to help older workers be less stressed and more productive members of the organizations they work for, and (4) to offer practical, concrete guidance regarding interruption design and organization to software engineers and managers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Tams, S.: The role of age in technology-induced workplace stress. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Clemson University (2011)
Spira, J.B., Feintuch, J.B.: The Cost of Not Paying Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity. Basex, New York (2005)
Tams, S., Thatcher, J., Grover, V., Pak, R.: Selective attention as a protagonist in contemporary workplace stress: implications for the interruption age. Anxiety Stress Coping 28(6), 663–686 (2015)
Tams, S., Thatcher, J., Ahuja, M.: The impact of interruptions on technology usage: exploring interdependencies between demands from interruptions, worker control, and role-based stress. In: Davis, F.D., et al. (eds.) Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation: Information Systems and Neuroscience, vol. 10, pp. 19–26. Springer, Heidelberg (2015)
Ayyagari, R., Grover, V., Purvis, R.: Technostress: technological antecedents and implications. MIS Q. 35(4), 831–858 (2011)
Riedl, R.: On the biology of technostress: literature review and research agenda. Database Adv. Inf. Syst. 44(1), 18–55 (2013)
Riedl, R., Kindermann, H., Auinger, A., Javor, A.: Technostress from a neurobiological perspective—system breakdown increases the stress hormone cortisol in computer users. Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 4(2), 61–69 (2012)
Riedl, R., Kindermann, H., Auinger, A., Javor, A.: Computer breakdown as a stress factor during task completion under time pressure: identifying gender differences based on skin conductance. Adv. Hum. Comput. Interac. 2013, 1–8 (2013). doi:10.1155/2013/420169. Article ID 420169
Tams, S.: Challenges in technostress research: guiding future work. In: Proceedings of the 21st Americas Conference on Information Systems, Puerto Rico, Article 38, 7 pages (2015)
Tams, S., Hill, K., Ortiz de Guinea, A., Thatcher, J., Grover, V.: NeuroIS—alternative or complement to existing methods? Illustrating the holistic effects of neuroscience and self-reported data in the context of technostress research. J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 15(10), 723–753 (2014). Article 1
OECD: Work-force ageing in OECD countries. In: OECD Employment Outlook 1998, pp. 123–151. OECD, Paris (1998)
OECD: Helping older workers find and retain jobs. In: Pensions at a Glance 2011: Retirement-Income Systems in OECD and G20 Countries, pp. 67–79. OECD, Paris (2011)
Pham, S.: The Graying Work Force. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/the-graying-workforce/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0. Accessed 30 Nov 2010
OECD: The ageing challenge. In: Ageing and The Public Service: Human Resource Challenges, pp. 7–28. OECD, Paris (2007)
OECD: OECD Employment Outlook 2013. OECD, Paris (2013)
OECD: Editorial. In: International Migration Outlook 2013, pp. 9–10. OECD, Paris (2013)
OECD: Labour market statistics: labour force statistics by sex and age. In: OECD Employment and Labour Market Statistics (Database, 2010)
Charness, N., Holley, P., Feddon, J., Jastrzembski, T.: Light pen use and practice minimize age and hand performance different in pointing tasks. Hum. Factors 46(3), 373–384 (2004)
Darowski, E.S., Helder, E., Zacks, R.T., Hasher, L., Hambrick, D.Z.: Age-related differences in cognition: the role of distraction control. Neuropsychology 22(5), 638–644 (2008)
Salthouse, T.A., Babcock, R.L.: Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. Dev. Psychol. 27(5), 763–776 (1991)
Tams, S., Grover, V., Thatcher, J.: Modern information technology in an old workforce: toward a strategic research agenda. J. Strateg. Inf. Syst. 23(4), 284–304 (2014)
Edwards, J.R.: An examination of competing versions of the person-environment fit approach to stress. Acad. Manage. J. 39(2), 292–339 (1996)
Siegrist, J.: Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. J. Occup. Health Psychol. 1(1), 27–41 (1996)
Joseph, S.: Measuring cognitive load: a comparison of self-report and physiological methods. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Arizona State University (2013)
Sweller, J.: Element interactivity and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 22, 123–138 (2010)
Lazarus, R.S.: Stress and Emotion: A New Synthesis. Springer, New York (1999)
Gallivan, M.J., Spitler, V.K., Koufaris, M.: Does information technology training really matter? A social information processing analysis of coworkers’ influence on IT usage in the workplace. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 22(1), 153–192 (2005)
Carlson, M.C., Hasher, L., Connelly, S.L., Zacks, R.T.: Aging, distraction, and the benefits of predictable location. Psychol. Aging 10(3), 427–436 (1995)
Christ, S.E., Castel, A.D., Abrams, R.A.: Capture of attention by new motion in young and older adults. J. Gerontol. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 63B(2), P110–P116 (2008)
Pratt, J., Bellomo, C.N.: Attentional capture in younger and older adults. Aging Neuropsychol. Cognit. 6(1), 19–31 (1999)
Müller-Putz, G.R., Riedl, R., Wriessnegger, S.C.: Electroencephalography (EEG) as a research tool in the information systems discipline: foundations, measurement, and applications. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 37 (2015). Article 46
Preacher, K.J., Rucker, D.D., Hayes, A.F.: Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivar. Behav. Res. 42(1), 185–227 (2007)
Preacher, K.J., Hayes, A.F.: SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 36(4), 717–731 (2004)
Acknowledgments
This research is being supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Société et culture.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Tams, S., Hill, K. (2017). Helping an Old Workforce Interact with Modern IT: A NeuroIS Approach to Understanding Technostress and Technology Use in Older Workers. 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 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41402-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41402-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41401-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41402-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)