The Relationship of Work-Related ICT Use With Well-being, Incorporating the Role of Resources and Demands: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

An understanding of the overall relationship between the work-related use of information and communication technology (ICT) and employees’ well-being is lacking as the rising number of studies has produced mixed results. We meta-analytically synthesize and integrate existing literature on the consequences of ICT use based on the job demands-resources model. By using meta-analytical structural equation modeling based on 63 independent studies ( N = 26,295), we shed light on the relationship between ICT use and employees’ well-being (operationalized as burnout and engagement) in a model that incorporates the mediating role of ICT-related resources and demands. Results show that ICT use is opposingly related to burnout and engagement through autonomy, availability, and work-life conflict. Our study brings clarity into the contradictory results and highlights the importance of a simultaneous consideration of both positive and negative effects for a comprehensive understanding of the relationship. We further show that the time of use and managerial position, and methodological moderators can clarify heterogeneity in previous results.