From August 5 to 9, the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management was held as scheduled. Zhang Jiayi and Wu Xiting, 2 undergraduate students of class 2019 from ECNU’s Asia Europe Business School attended the annual academic conference online and reported their research results on Life Interrupted: The Effects of IT mediated Interruption Overload after Hours on Work-life Conflict in the Remote Work and Work-life Conflict branch of the conference.
Information technology (such as WeChat, email, mobile phone, etc.) is widely used in work, which has greatly changed people's working habits. However, the development of information technology is accompanied by some problems, such as information overload, information flooding, information infringement, Internet addiction, etc. In the context of informatization, the boundaries of different fields become blurred. Tasks in one field can easily intervene in another field through information technology, that is, information technology makes work interruptions more frequent. Previous studies have found that it takes about 8 minutes for a person to enter a creative state without interference, but once interrupted, it takes at least 25 minutes for him to return to the main task. In addition to being disturbed during working hours, people may also be disturbed during non-working (off-duty) hours. Information technology blurred the boundary between work and life, and the development of information technology in the workplace makes it difficult to achieve a balance between work and life.
In this context, the study explored the impact of information technology-mediated work disruption on work-life conflict during non-work hours and analyzed the mechanism and boundary conditions that produced this relationship. This research uses the resource conservation theory, which explains the individual's perception and behavior of potential resource loss. Its core idea is that when there is potential or actual loss of valuable resources, people will strive to retain, protect and build resources. According to the theory of resource conservation, time and energy are regarded as valuable personal resources both in the workplace and non-workplace. If disturbed during non-working hours, individuals will face resource allocation between interruption events and major events. This kind of resource allocation across work and non-work areas will deplete people's resource reserves and bring negative psychological consequences such as conflict or pressure.
The results show that: 1) After work disturbance overload triggers work-life conflict through a psychological transition mechanism; 2) The priority processing method will strengthen the above intermediary relationship, while the sequential processing method will weaken the above intermediary relationship. This research reveals the mechanism of non-working time work disturbance on work-life conflict from the perspective of psychology and promotes the development of related research. In addition, the research results provide references for managers, employees, and information system developers, and provide suggestions on how to avoid work-family conflict to better maintain work-family balance.
This research was completed by Zhang Jiayi and Wu Xiting under the guidance of Yang Feifei, a teacher from Asia Europe Business School, and received strong support from the college.
Zhang Jiayi
Undergraduate of class 2019 in Business Administration (Sino French Innovation Experiment Class) of Asia Europe Business School of East China Normal University. She won the second prize scholarship and was chosen as an outstanding student of ENCU in the academic year 2019-2020, and was selected as an outstanding student of Economics and Management College in the academic year 2020-2021. Zhang Jiayi served as the Deputy Minister of the Public Relations Department of the Student Union of the University and the Director of the Employment and Entrepreneurship Center, and actively participated in student organizations such as AIESEC and Beautiful China; In addition to her studies, she has accumulated internship experience in Jiuqian Consulting, KPMG Audit Department, China Telecom Angus 4A Advertising Department, and McDonald's Strategy Department.
Wu Xiting
Undergraduate of class 2019 in Business Administration (Sino French Innovation Experiment Class) of Asia Europe Business School of East China Normal University. She won the Special Scholarship of ECNU in the academic year 2019-2020, the First Class Scholarship of ECNU in the academic year 2020-2021, and was chosen as an outstanding student of ECNU in the academic year 2019-2020. In addition to her studies, she extensively participated in campus activities, joined the Sports Department, and the Arts Department of the Student Union, and managed the College Community Development Office and other departments and organizations. Additionally, she actively participated in social practice and volunteer activities and joined the New Home Volunteer Service Society to provide services for families and children in distress in Minhang District.