Information and communication technology (ICT) enables employees to seamlessly traverse work and life domains, and thus impacts employee work/life interactions. Employers today are mindful of employee work/life interactions as an important element in employee wellbeing. With ICT being an integral element of today’s workplace, the ICT implications on work/life interactions have great relevance for the employers and policymakers. Literature on ICT and work/life interactions have focused on the Western and/or developed countries. Considering the rapid adaptation of ICTs in developing countries, it is important to understand whether the effect of ICT use on work/life interactions is universal. This study examined the impact of cross-domain ICT use on individual work/life conflict using a sample of professionals/ managers from Sri Lanka. Next, the cognitive dissonance theory was used to examine whether individuals’ perception towards ICTs (positive or negative) has a moderating impact on the aforementioned relationship. The findings validated the literature by demonstrating that cross-domain ICT use positively relates to work/life conflict even in the Sri Lankan context. Next, the results empirically demonstrated that individuals with negative perception towards ICT tend to experience a stronger relationship between work ICT use beyond times and work-to-life conflict. The theoretical contribution together with the implications for employers, human resource practitioners and individuals are also discussed.
AllenT. D.JohnsonR. C.KiburzK. M.ShockleyK. M. (2013). Work–family conflict and flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility. Personnel Psychology, 66(2), 345– 376.
2.
ArnoldM. (2003). On the phenomenology of technology: The “Janus-faces” of mobile phones.Information and Organization, 13(4), 231–256.
3.
AryeeS. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work–family conflict among married professional women: Evidence from Singapore. Human Relations, 45(8), 813.
4.
AshforthB. E.KreinerG. E.FugateM. (2000). All in a day’s work: Boundaries and micro role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 25(3), 472.
5.
BoswellW. R.Olson-BuchananJ. B. (2007). The use of communication technologies after hours: The role of work attitudes and work–life conflict. Journal of Management, 33(4), 592–610.
6.
BrownT. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York, NY: Guilford.
7.
ChesleyN. (2005 December). Blurring boundaries? Linking technology use, spillover, individual distress and family satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 67(5), 1237–1248.
8.
ChristinM. (2016). After-hours availability expectations, work-related smartphone use during leisure, and psychological detachment: The moderating role of boundary control. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 9(2), 146–164.
9.
ClarkS. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/life balance. Human Relations, 53(6), 747–770.
10.
CousinsK. C.RobeyD. (2005). Human agency in a wireless world: Patterns of technology use in nomadic computing environments. Information and Organization, 15(2), 151–180.
11.
CousinsK. C.RobeyD.. (2015). Managing work-life boundaries with mobile technologies: An interpretive study of mobile work practices. Information Technology & People, 28(1), 37–71.
12.
DavisR. A.FlettG. L.BesserA. (2002). Validation of a new scale for measuring problematic Internet use: Implications for pre-employment screening. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 5(4), 331–345.
13.
DiamantopoulosA.SiguawJ. A. (2000). Introducing LISREL: A guide to the uninitiated.London: SAGE
14.
DrouinM.O’ConnorK. W.SchmidtG. B.MillerD. A. (2015, May). Facebook fired: Legal perspectives and young adults’ opinions on the use of social media in hiring and firing decisions. Computers in Human Behavior, 46, 123–128.
15.
DuxburyL.SmartR. (2011). The “myth of separate worlds”: An exploration of how mobile technology has redefined work–life balance. In S.KaiserM. J.RinglstetterD. R.EikhofM.Pina e Cunha (Eds.), Creating Balance? (pp.269–284). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
16.
EdwardsJ. A.CockertonT.GuppyA. (2007). A longitudinal study examining the influence of work and non-work stressors upon wellbeing: A multi-group analysis. International Journal of Stress Management, 14(3), 294–311.
17.
EisingaR.GrotenhuisM. t.PelzerB. (2013). The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown? International Journal of Public Health, 58(4), 637–642.
18.
ElOuirdiM.PaisI.Segers J. El OuirdiA.(2016 September). The relationship between recruiter characteristics and applicant assessment on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 415–422.
19.
FennerG. H.RennR. W. (2004). Technology-assisted supplemental work: Construct definition and a research framework. Human Resource Management, 43(2–3), 179–200.
20.
FennerG. H.RennR. W.. (2010). Technology-assisted supplemental work and work-to-family conflict: The role of instrumentality beliefs, organizational expectations and time management. Human Relations, 63(1), 63–82.
21.
FestingerL. (1957). A theory of Cognitive Dissonance. California, US: Stanford University Press.
22.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
23.
FreemanM. A. (1997). Demographic correlates of individualism and collectivism: A study of social values in Sri Lanka. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28(3), 321–341.
24.
FroneM.RussellM.CooperM. (1992a). Antecedents and outcomes of work–family conflicts: Testing a model of work–family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(1), 65–78.
25.
FroneM.RussellM.CooperM.. (1992b). Prevalence of work–family conflict: Are work and family boundaries asymmetrically permeable? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(7), 723–729.
26.
GalesicM.BosnjakM. (2009). Effects of questionnaire length on participation and indicators of response quality in a web survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73(2), 349–360.
27.
GalinskyE.KimS. S.JamesT. (2001). Feeling overworked: When work becomes too much. Families and Work Institute. Retrieved from http://familiesandwork.org/downloads/feelingoverworkedsumm.pdf
28.
GarrettR. K.DanzigerJ. N. (2008). On cyberslacking: Workplace status and personal internet use at work. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(3), 287–292.
29.
GeurtsS. A. E.DemeroutiE. (2003). Work/non-work interface: A review of theories and findings. In M. J.SchabracqJ. A. M.WinnubstC. L.Cooper (Eds.), The handbook of work and health psychology (2nd ed.). New Jersey, US: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
30.
GoldenA.GeislerC. (2007). Work–life boundary management and the personal digital assistant. Human Relations, 60(3), 519–551.
31.
GreenhausJ. H.AllenT. D. (2011). Work–family balance: A review and extension of the literature. In J. C.QuickL. E.Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (2nd ed., pp. 165–183). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
32.
GreenhausJ. H.BeutellN. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76–88.
33.
GutekB. A.SearleS.KlepaL. (1991). Rational verses gender role explanations for work–family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(4), 560–568.
34.
HaarJ. M.RussoM.SuñeA.Ollier-MalaterreA. (2014). Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 361–373.
35.
HairJ. F.BlackW. C.BabinB. J.AndersonR. E.TathamR. L. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle Drive, NJ: Prentice Hall.
36.
HeywoodJ. S.SiebertW. S.WeiX. (2011). Estimating the use of agency workers: Can family- friendly practices reduce their use? Industrial Relations, 50(3), 535–564.
37.
HolbrookA. L.KrosnickJ. A.MooreD.TourangeauR. (2007). Response order effects in dichotomous categorical questions presented orally: The impact of question and respondent attributes. Public Opinion Quarterly, 71(3), 325–348.
38.
ITU. (2012). ITU statistical market overview: Sri Lanka: International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/net/newsroom/GSR/2012/reports/stats_sri_lanka.aspx
39.
ITU. (2016). Country ICT data (until 2016). Geneva: International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx
40.
. ITU (2017). ICT facts and figures 2017. Retrieved from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2017.pdf.
41.
JarvenpaaS. L.LangK. R. (2005). Managing the paradoxes of mobile technology. Information Systems Management, 22(4), 7–23.
42.
KailasapathyP.MetzI. (2012). Work–family conflict in Sri Lanka: Negotiations of exchange relationships in family and at work. Journal of Social Issues, 68(4), 790–813.
43.
KlausT.GyiresT.WenH. J. (2003). The use of web-based information systems for non-work activities: An empirical study. Human Systems Management, 22(3), 105–114.
44.
KossekE. E. (2016). Managing work–life boundaries in the digital age. Organizational Dynamics, 45(3), 258–270.
45.
KossekE. E.LautschB. A.EatonS. C. (2006). Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work–family effectiveness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(2), 347–367.
46.
KrautR.PattersonM.LundmarkV.KieslerS.MukopadhyayT.ScherlisW. (1998). Internet paradox. A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological wellbeing? American Psychologist, 53(9), 1017–1031.
47.
LarsenK. S.OmmundsenR.van der VeerK. (2008). Being human: Relationships and you—A social psychological analysis. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers.
48.
LimV. K. G. (2002). The IT way of loafing on the job: Cyberloafing, neutralizing and organizational justice. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(5), 675–694.
49.
LuL.KaoShu-FangChangTing-TingWuHsin-PeiCooperC. L. (2008). Work/family demands, work flexibility, work/family conflict, and their consequences at work: A national probability sample in Taiwan. International Journal of Stress Management, 15(1), 1–21.
50.
LynessK. S.JudieschM. K. (2014). Gender egalitarianism and work–life balance for managers: Multisource perspectives in 36 countries. Applied Psychology, 63(1), 96–129.
51.
MacKenzieS. B.PodsakoffP. M.PaineJ. B. (1999). Do citizenship behaviors matter more for managers than for sales people. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27(4), 396– 410.
52.
MazmanianM.OrlikowskiW.YatesJ. (2006). Ubiquitous email: Individual experiences and organizational consequences of BlackBerry use (pp. D1–D6). Proceeding of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, GA, 2006. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2006.27169074.
53.
Mesmer-MagnusJ. R.ViswesvaranC. (2005). Convergence between measures of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: A meta-analytic examination. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67(2), 215–232.
54.
MiddletonC. A. (2008). Do mobile technologies enable work–life balance? Dual perspectives on BlackBerry usage for supplemental work. In D.Hislop (Ed.), Mobility and technology in the workplace (pp. 209–224). London: Routledge.
55.
MiddletonC. A.CukierW. (2006). Is mobile email functional or dysfunctional? Two perspectives on mobile email usage. European Journal of Information Systems, 15(3), 252–260.
56.
NetemeyerR. G.BolesJ. S.McMurrianR. (1996). Development and validation of work–family conflict and family–work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(4), 400–410.
57.
NieN. H. (2001). Sociability, interpersonal relations, and the Internet: Reconciling conflicting findings. The American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 420.
58.
OrlikowskiW. J. (2007). Sociomaterial practices: Exploring technology at work. Organization Studies, 28(9), 1435–1448.
59.
ParasuramanS.GreenhausJ. H. (2002). Towards reducing some critical gaps in work–family research. Human Resource Management Review, 12(3), 299–312.
60.
PerryM.O’HaraK.SellenA.BrownB.HarperR. (2001). Dealing with mobility: Understanding access anytime, anywhere. ACM Transactions on Computer–Human Interactions, 8(4), 323–347.
61.
PocockB. (2005). Work–life “balance” in Australia: Limited progress, dim prospects. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 43(2), 198.
62.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.LeeJ. Y.PodsakoffN. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.
63.
PrasopoulouE.PouloudiA.PanteliN. (2006). Enacting new temporal boundaries: The role of mobile phones. European Journal of Information Systems, 15(3), 277–284.
64.
RedondoI.CharronJ.-P. (2013). The payment dilemma in movie and music downloads: An explanation through cognitive dissonance theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), 2037–2046.
65.
RichardsonK.Benbunan-FichR. (2011). Examining the antecedents of work connectivity behavior during non-work time. Information and Organization, 21(3), 142–160.
66.
Senarathne TennakoonK. L. U.da SilveiraG. J. C. Taras D.G. (2013). Drivers of context- specific ICT use across work and nonwork domains: A boundary theory perspective. Information and Organization, 23(2), 107–128.
67.
SteenkampJ. E. M.van TrijpH. C. M. (1991). The use of LISREL in validating marketing constructs. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 8(4), 283–299.
68.
The World Bank. (2017). Country overview: Sri Lanka. The World Bank Group. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka/overview
69.
TowersI.DuxburyL.HigginsC.ThomasJ. (2006). Time thieves and space invaders: Technology, work and the organization. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 19(5), 593–618.
70.
VenturaM. (1995). The age of interruption. Family Therapy Networker, 19, 19–31.
71.
VitakJ.CrouseJ.LaRoseR. (2011). Personal Internet use at work: Understanding cyberslacking. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1751–1759.
72.
WajcmanJ.BittmanM.BrownJ. E. (2008). Families without borders: Mobile phones, connectedness and work-home divisions. Sociology, 42(4), 635–652.
73.
WeatherbeeT. G. (2010). Counterproductive use of technology at work: Information & communications technologies and cyberdeviancy. Human Resource Management Review, 20(1), 35–44.
74.
WeiR.LoV.-H. (2006). Staying connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness. New Media Society, 8(1), 53–72.
75.
ZaitonH.DollardM. F.WinefieldA. H. (2010). Work–family conflict in East vs Western countries. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 17(1), 30–49.
76.
ZedeckS.MosierK. (1990). Work in the family and employing organization. American Psychologist, 45(2), 240–251.
