Shalini Chandra

Technostress creators and job outcomes: theorising the moderating influence of personality traits

Although prior research has examined the influence of technostress creators on job outcomes, insights into the influence of personality traits on the perceptions of technostress creators and their consequent impacts on job outcomes are rather limited. Such insights would enable a deeper understanding about the effects of individual differences on salient job‐related outcomes. In this research, by leveraging the distinctions in personality traits offered by the big five personality traits in the five‐factor model and grounding the research in the transactional model of stress and coping, we theorise the moderating influence of personality traits on the relationships between technostress creators and job outcomes, namely job burnout and job engagement. Specifically, the study theorises the mechanisms through which each of the specific personality traits openness‐to‐experience, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and extraversion interacts with technostress creators to differently influence job burnout and job engagement. We test the proposed model in a field study based on a survey of senior organisational managers who regularly use information and communication technologies for executing professional tasks. Although technostress creators are generally associated with negative job outcomes, our results also show that for individuals with certain personality traits, technostress creators may result in positive job outcomes. The study thus contributes to the technostress literature, specifically by incorporating the salient role of individual differences. The study also provides insights for managers who should pay special attention to allocating specific job roles to employees with particular personality traits in order to optimise job‐related outcomes.

Exploratory qualitative study for community management and control of tuberculosis in India

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in India which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the global TB burden. Though India has been gaining success in eliminating TB, the disease still kills 1000 people daily. It is of prime importance to control the TB situation in India. Motivated by the need to explore factors influencing TB, a qualitative study was conducted with 14 doctors and key TB informants in India over a period of one month involving face-to-face interviews. The interviewees came from diverse backgrounds and vocations, thus providing a rich data on varied issues in controlling the spread of TB in India for enhanced patient care. The data was coded and analyzed. The findings suggest the need to address mental and social well-being of the TB patients through three main themes, namely, Alerts, Care and Education, in order to control the TB situation in India.

Technostressors and job stress: examining the role of personality traits

In the current scenario of globally distributed working, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are playing a key role in connecting the global workforce. Further, rapid technological advances have made it possible to get connected anytime anywhere, thereby delivering data and information in real time to support businesses, organizations and personal decisions. Though the ubiquity of ICTs is beneficial for organizations, it often promotes negative outcomes for the employees such as -- increased work overload, increased stress, pressures due to excessive technology dependence and demands for enhanced productivity. Although prior research has examined the influence of technostressors on job stress, insights into the influence of personality traits on the perceptions of technostressors, and their consequent impacts on job stress, is rather limited. Such insights would enable a deeper understanding on the effects of individual differences on salient job related outcome. In this research-in-progress, by leveraging the differences in personality traits offered by the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and grounding the research in Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC), we theorize the moderating influence of personality on the relationships between technostressors and job stress. Specifically, the study theorizes the mechanisms through which each of the specific personality traits of - openness-to-experience, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and extraversion, interacts with technostressors to have a different influence on job stress. We plan to test the theorized model in a field study based on a survey of senior organizational managers, who regularly use information and communication technologies (ICTs) for professional tasks. Though technostressors are generally associated with negative job outcomes, we expect that for individuals with certain personality traits, the negative effect of technostressors may be mitigated. The study will thus contribute to the technostress literature -- specifically by incorporating the salient role of individual differences into the nomological network linking technostressors to job stress. The study will also provide insights to managers for paying special attention to allocating specific job roles to employees with particular personality traits for maximizing job related outcomes.