Paper Number
ECIS2026-1145
Paper Type
SP
Abstract
Job and personal resources can influence employees’ psychological strain. Elevated psychological strain often leads employees to adopt individual coping mechanisms, such as engaging with social and digital media to compensate for offline deficiencies. However, heavy social media use can give rise to adverse behaviours such as social networking site addiction (SNSA), which in turn can increase employees’ digital stress (DS). Data were collected via an online survey of German and Japanese employees, and multigroup structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships among work performance, life satisfaction, psychological strain, SNSA, and DS. The findings indicate that low work performance and life satisfaction increase psychological strain, thereby raising the risk of SNSA and, consequently, DS. These effects on strain are consistent across both cultures. However, the downstream effects of psychological strain on DS via SNSA are more pronounced in an individualistic (i.e., Germany) than in a collectivistic country (i.e., Japan).
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Gianfranco; Funke, Christopher; Rothert-Schnell, Caroline; and Takahashi, Ikuo, "From Performance and Life Satisfaction To Perceived Digital Stress: A Cross-Cultural Examination Of Psychological Strain and Social Networking Site Addiction" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 3.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/cog_hbis/cog_hbis/3
From Performance and Life Satisfaction To Perceived Digital Stress: A Cross-Cultural Examination Of Psychological Strain and Social Networking Site Addiction
Job and personal resources can influence employees’ psychological strain. Elevated psychological strain often leads employees to adopt individual coping mechanisms, such as engaging with social and digital media to compensate for offline deficiencies. However, heavy social media use can give rise to adverse behaviours such as social networking site addiction (SNSA), which in turn can increase employees’ digital stress (DS). Data were collected via an online survey of German and Japanese employees, and multigroup structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships among work performance, life satisfaction, psychological strain, SNSA, and DS. The findings indicate that low work performance and life satisfaction increase psychological strain, thereby raising the risk of SNSA and, consequently, DS. These effects on strain are consistent across both cultures. However, the downstream effects of psychological strain on DS via SNSA are more pronounced in an individualistic (i.e., Germany) than in a collectivistic country (i.e., Japan).
When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.