Open research questions in Technostress in Professional Settings

What the literature leaves open

• Employee resistance to digital transformation is a critical barrier to effective organizational change. Technology anxiety, perceived risk, and change fatigue are significant challenges that need to be addressed. The study highlights the need to develop strategies to manage resistance and improve digital transformation outcomes.

  Beyond resistance: an integrated psychological organizational model of employee response to digital transformation · 2026 · DOI

• Despite investments in digital solutions, digital transformation programs often do not realize their desired results because of human and behavioral factors. Employee resistance to digital transformation remains a critical barrier to effective organizational change. There is a need to investigate the key drivers of resistance and develop an integrated framework to address this issue.

  Beyond resistance: an integrated psychological organizational model of employee response to digital transformation · 2026 · DOI

• further research is needed to explore the causal relationship between AI-related technostress and mental health, - studies with longitudinal designs could provide more insight into the relationship between AI adoption and mental health

  Mental health in the “era” of artificial intelligence: technostress and the perceived impact on anxiety and depressive disorders—an SEM analysis · 2025 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in research regarding the psychological implications of AI adoption in society. There is a lack of studies analyzing the relationship between technostress and mental health in the context of AI.

  Mental health in the “era” of artificial intelligence: technostress and the perceived impact on anxiety and depressive disorders—an SEM analysis · 2025 · DOI

• Future studies are recommended to consider other theoretically relevant variables to provide a more comprehensive understanding of technostress in the workplace ABSTRAK Perkembangan digitalisasi kerja meningkatkan tuntutan penggunaan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi yang berpotensi menimbulkan technostress pada karyawan.

  PENGARUH RESILIENSI TERHADAP TECHNOSTRESS PADA KARYAWAN PT · 2026 · DOI

• Little is known, however, about the psychological costs associated with this adoption.

  ChatGPT-induced technostress among UAE university students: a PLS-SEM and IPMA investigation of AI anxiety, cognitive overload, and perceived authenticity · 2026 · DOI

• However, limited research exists on the effects of technostress and task-technology fit on designers’ sustained usage intentions toward AIGC.

  Revealing the Role of Technostress in the Continuous Intention of Using AIGC Among Designers: An Investigation Based on UTAUT and TTF Models · 2025 · DOI

• STUDY IMPLICATIONS: This study provides novel insights into AI adoption among Peruvian preservice teachers, an underexplored population in educational technology research.

  The mediating role of work stress and the performance expectations in the effect of academic overload on the use of AI models among preservice teachers: a cross-sectional study · 2025 · DOI

• Future research should focus on the causal relationship between techno-stress and adverse long-term consequences, such as burnout or mental disorders, among dentists.

  Digitalization in Dentistry: Dentists’ Perceptions of Digital Stressors and Resources and Their Association with Digital Stress in Germany—A Qualitative Study · 2025 · DOI

• Therefore, to fill the gap in the literature, this study studied QoL by involving perceived threat of Covid-19, Covid-19 related workplace policy, job insecurity, digital literacy, POS, quality culture, and safety culture.

  The Model of Worker’s Quality of Life During Covid-19 Pandemic: The Role of Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Digital Literacy, Covid-19-Related Workplace Policy, Quality Culture, and Safety Culture · 2024 · DOI

• However, with work increasingly migrating from the physical to the digital workplace, evidence is lacking on how mindfulness might help employees live healthy digital working lives.

  Mindfully and confidently digital: A mixed methods study on personal resources to mitigate the dark side of digital working · 2024 · DOI

• is almost in inevitably t m of in to fellow foregoing suggau strongly Considerable work remains to be done to a m & the ponible disadvantages.

  Whose attitudes to which aspects of work?orCool media for high participation · 1987 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on the mental health implications of GenAI in medical education. The study highlights the need for further research on the effects of GenAI on mental health in academic environments.

  Technostress in the Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Mental Health Implications in Medical Education · 2026 · DOI

• Research examining the psychological and pedagogical factors influencing AI use in educational contexts remains limited. Existing studies have largely focused on the development of technical systems, highlighting the need for research on teachers' psychological readiness and techno-pedagogical competencies.

  The current landscape of teachers artificial intelligence acceptance: Relationships with TPACK and technostress · 2026 · DOI

• The relationship between sustainable professional learning ecosystems (collaborative communities, reverse mentoring) and both technopedagogical readiness and technostress reduction in AI adoption contexts has not been empirically validated through longitudinal or experimental designs.

  The current landscape of teachers artificial intelligence acceptance: Relationships with TPACK and technostress · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the existing literature on the impact of job insecurity on employee burnout in the context of technological transformation.

  From Job Insecurity to Burnout in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement and the Moderating Role of Artificial Intelligence Self-Efficacy · 2026 · DOI

• Organizations are increasingly adopting Smart Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation, and Algorithms (STARA; Brougham & Haar, 2018), yet employee responses to these advanced technologies vary widely.

  Too Close for Comfort? Effects of Proximity to Robotics and Automation on Tech-Induced Job Insecurity and Perceived Organizational Support · 2026 · DOI

• The psychological challenges associated with Gen AI use, including anxiety, worry, and feelings of overwhelm. The lack of research on the relationship between Gen AI use and employees' psychological distress. The need for practical recommendations for managers and employees on how to interact effectively with Gen AI tools.

  The impact of generative AI use on employees’ psychological distress: a moderated mediation model · 2026 · DOI

• The widespread adoption of Gen AI in the workplace has introduced substantial psychological challenges for employees, but there is a lack of research on the relationship between Gen AI use and employees' psychological distress. Prior work has focused on the advantages of Gen AI, but has neglected the potential negative effects on employees' well-being.

  The impact of generative AI use on employees’ psychological distress: a moderated mediation model · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the empirical understanding of TSR and its impact on employee behavior during digital transformation. The research highlights the need to investigate the relationship between TSR, resistance to technological change, and employees' attitudes towards AI integration.

  Addressing AI-related fears: the impact of technological social responsibility on employees’ attitudes towards AI integration at work · 2026 · DOI

• The integration of AI into teaching has become an increasingly common trend. Teachers' response to the transformation of their digital identities remains a pressing challenge. Technological anxiety undermines teachers' confidence and ability to apply AI technology.

  How does technological anxiety affect teachers’ self-efficacy in AI competence: the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of social support · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of in-depth understanding of the psychological mechanisms and moderating effects of external resources on technological anxiety. Existing research has predominantly focused on the associations between technological anxiety and behavioral outcomes or subjective intentions.

  How does technological anxiety affect teachers’ self-efficacy in AI competence: the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of social support · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of population-level evidence on the relationship between digital work practices and burnout among university faculty. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the relationships between digital engagement and burnout among university faculty in India.

  Sleep and workload mediate the relationship between digital engagement and burnout: a national cross-sectional study of university faculty in India · 2026 · DOI

• The study limitations that should be considered while interpreting the findings; the cross-sectional design of this study did not allow causality relationship among variables, and the mediation findings should be inter- preted with caution, the relationships are potential path- ways rather than definitive causal mechanism. This study used a regression-based mediation approach rather than an advanced counterfactual mediation framework due to assumption limitation related to observational data of this study. Although important covariates were included in the analyses based on theoretical approach, the possi- bility of residual confounding cannot be excluded. Self- reported screen time, sleep quality, and physical activity levels would have let to recall bias and social desirability bias. Though, self-reported height and weight are com- monly used to compute BMI in online survey designs, and this is also regarded as a limitation due to social desirability bias [50]. In absence of a robust theoretical framework or model like the Job Demands-resources (JD-R) model, this study could not adequately explain the relationship between variables like workload, screen time, job crafting, work performance, personal resources, and burnout. Nevertheless, this research included a larger sample of faculties and from different part of the country. Hence, the findings established from this diverse sample would enhance the generalizability of the find- ings. Further, the use of validated outcome measures and statistical measures used in this study would have coun- tered the possible biases. Sidiq et al. Archives of Public Health (2026) 84:118 Page 13 of 14 Future researches should consider conducting a lon- gitudinal design explaining cause-effect relationships of predictor variables, and use of objective outcome measures to assess digital screen time, subject/area of discipline workload stress, work satisfaction, and organi- zational policies related to academic, administrative, and research related tasks.

  Sleep and workload mediate the relationship between digital engagement and burnout: a national cross-sectional study of university faculty in India · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the interrelationship among business ethics, technology use, and workplace happiness, incorporating a gender-differentiated perspective. Prior studies have not fully examined the moderating effect of gender on these relationships.

  Business ethics, technology use, and workplace happiness: Gender-based differences · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Technostress in Professional Settings

• Information Technology and Organizational Change: Causal Structure in Theory and Research · Management Science · 1988 · 1,186 citations
• An empirical test of a new theory of human needs · Organizational Behavior and Human Performance · 1969 · 901 citations
• Automation, Algorithms, and Beyond: Why Work Design Matters More Than Ever in a Digital World · Applied Psychology · 2019 · 766 citations
• Hotel employee's artificial intelligence and robotics awareness and its impact on turnover intention: The moderating roles of perceived organizational support and competitive psychological climate · Tourism Management · 2019 · 748 citations
• Task Characteristics and the Experience of Optimal Flow in Human—Computer Interaction · The Journal of Psychology · 1994 · 716 citations
• Information and communication technology overload and social networking service fatigue: A stress perspective · Computers in Human Behavior · 2015 · 696 citations
• Longitudinal study of the effects of information seeking on newcomer socialization. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 1993 · 541 citations
• A Cybernetic Theory of Stress, Coping, and Well-Being in Organizations · Academy of Management Review · 1992 · 483 citations
• The dark side of technologies: Technostress among users of information and communication technologies · International Journal of Psychology · 2012 · 448 citations
• The psychological impact of teleworking: stress, emotions and health · New Technology Work and Employment · 2003 · 408 citations

Most recent work

• Development and validation of a digital burnout scale in artificial intelligence era · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
• Algorithmic anxiety: AI, work, and the evolving psychological contract in digital discourse · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
• Why some cope better with technostress: Understanding technology self-efficacy and knowledge sharing disengagement · Personality and Individual Differences · 2026
• A study on the relationship between digital leadership, digital self-efficacy, and work engagement: the moderating role of technostress · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
• The impact of digital teaching on learning burnout in college students: the moderating role of self-efficacy and the mediating effect of learning adaptability · BMC Medical Education · 2026
• Working Smarter with AI in Hotel Industry: How Awareness Fuels Eustress, Task Crafting, and Adaptation · Societies · 2026
• Generative AI dependence in higher education: A PLS-SEM examination of Chinese and Malaysian teachers through the I-PACE model · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• Professional Well-Being of Teachers in the Digital Age: The Role of Digital Competences and Technostress · Education Sciences · 2026
• The impact of generative artificial intelligence usage on job performance through job crafting and work engagement: Does digital competence matter? · Computers in Human Behavior · 2026
• AI Technology Acceptance, Decent Work Perception, and Job Crafting Among Nurses: A Three‐Wave Cross‐Lagged Study · International Nursing Review · 2026

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