Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict

Internet usage for non-work activities during work hours is an increasingly common concern among management scholars and practitioners as well as for employees, particularly in relation to its impact on work-life conflict and individual well-being. Drawing on memory for goals theory, this study inve...

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Main Authors: Farivar, F., Esmaeelinezhad, O., Richardson, Julia
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2022
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88148
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author Farivar, F.
Esmaeelinezhad, O.
Richardson, Julia
author_facet Farivar, F.
Esmaeelinezhad, O.
Richardson, Julia
author_sort Farivar, F.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Internet usage for non-work activities during work hours is an increasingly common concern among management scholars and practitioners as well as for employees, particularly in relation to its impact on work-life conflict and individual well-being. Drawing on memory for goals theory, this study investigates the distinction between digital intrusions and digital interruptions during work and their concomitant impact on work-life conflict. Using a set-theoretic approach to analyse data gathered from information technology (IT) professionals in Germany and Australia, we explain how a 2 * 2 matrix comprising non-work online messaging, or personal digital communication, during work and intrusion contributes to work-life conflict. A key finding is that employees reported work-life conflict only if they perceived private messaging as a source of intrusion rather than as a distraction. From a practical perspective, this finding suggests that employers may provide employees with micro-breaks to attend to perceived intrusions and thus reduce sources of work-life conflict. Contributions and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-881482022-03-28T03:31:50Z Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict Farivar, F. Esmaeelinezhad, O. Richardson, Julia Internet usage for non-work activities during work hours is an increasingly common concern among management scholars and practitioners as well as for employees, particularly in relation to its impact on work-life conflict and individual well-being. Drawing on memory for goals theory, this study investigates the distinction between digital intrusions and digital interruptions during work and their concomitant impact on work-life conflict. Using a set-theoretic approach to analyse data gathered from information technology (IT) professionals in Germany and Australia, we explain how a 2 * 2 matrix comprising non-work online messaging, or personal digital communication, during work and intrusion contributes to work-life conflict. A key finding is that employees reported work-life conflict only if they perceived private messaging as a source of intrusion rather than as a distraction. From a practical perspective, this finding suggests that employers may provide employees with micro-breaks to attend to perceived intrusions and thus reduce sources of work-life conflict. Contributions and suggestions for future studies are discussed. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88148 10.1111/ntwe.12235 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Farivar, F.
Esmaeelinezhad, O.
Richardson, Julia
Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title_full Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title_fullStr Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title_full_unstemmed Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title_short Digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-Life conflict
title_sort digital intrusions or distraction at work and work-life conflict
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88148