Constant Connectivity and its Impact on Employee Well-being: A Mediation and Moderation Analysis

Abstract

The advent and integration of mobile information and communication technology, high-bandwidth cellular services, laptops and mobile phones have created a boundaryless workspace where employees are expected to remain constantly connected for work purposes even after hours. Based on 218 online panel data, this study measured the conditional direct and indirect impact of constant connectivity after work hours on employee well-being and the mediating role of cognitive overload and mobile work device anxiety. Data was collected two times, T1 and T2, with a minimum gap of two weeks. The independent variable, mediators and moderators, were collected in T1, and the dependent variable was collected in T2. Cognitive overload negatively mediated the relationship between constant connectivity and employee well-being. No mediation was observed through work device anxiety; however, in the presence of a coping approach, a positive moderated mediation was observed through work device anxiety. An academic discourse of constant connectivity as a job resource, its use to gain other resources and the loss of resources due to constant connectivity has been affirmed in this study. In future, taking forward from this theoretical contribution, a greater in-depth study on the relationship between constant connectivity and employee well-being can be conducted