Mapping the Impact: A Systematic Review of the Psychological and Social Repercussions of Technostress

Technostress, a negative psychological state arising from an inability to cope with the demands of information and communication technologies (ICTs), has become a pervasive psychosocial challenge in the digital age. This systematic review synthesizes and critically evaluates the extant literature from 2015 to 2025 to provide a comprehensive analysis of the psychological and social aftermaths of technostress. The findings robustly link specific technostress creators, such as techno-overload, techno-invasion, and techno-uncertainty, to severe psychological consequences, including heightened anxiety, clinical depression, and professional burnout. Socially, technostress erodes relational and professional boundaries, significantly increasing work-family conflict and, paradoxically, fostering social isolation despite the hyper-connected nature of modern life. However, these outcomes are not uniform across populations; they are significantly moderated by demographic factors like age, gender, and socioeconomic status, as well as critical contextual factors such as digital literacy, organizational support cultures, and individual coping mechanisms. The review concludes that effectively mitigating technostress requires a multi-level, systemic approach. This approach must integrate individual coping strategies, organizational policies that proactively protect employee boundaries, and a fundamental shift towards ethical, human-centric technology design. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies to establish causality, intervention-based research to test mitigation strategies, and explore the evolving nature of technostress in the context of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and algorithmic management.