Technostress's impact on well-being and turnover intent: comparing mediation and network analysis

Purpose As information technology becomes more ubiquitous in the workplace, it becomes increasingly important to understand how employees' experiences with these technologies impact their well-being and turnover intention. Technostress, the inability to relate to new technologies in a positive way, has been studied as a cause of turnover, but these studies tend to ignore the possibility of turnover intention also leading to heightened feelings of technostress. Design/methodology/approach The present study aimed to assess the relationship between technostress, well-being and turnover intent (TI) among a sample of 428 workers, through both a top-down (mediation) and a bottom-up (network analysis) methodology. Findings Results coincided with previous models of turnover, indicating that turnover intention usually results from reduced workplace well-being, originating from technostress. Yet, network analysis showed that TI had a significant relationship with both technostress and well-being, indicating that a positive feedback loop might be present in this process. The results highlight the importance of constant training in information technology to maintain worker well-being and reduce turnover. Originality/value This is the first paper to compare mediation with network analysis within TI. Beyond identifying cyclical effects, the paper identifies how different elements of technostress affect TI and the pathways through which this association is established.