Technostress in University Students as an Effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

Technostress - the difficulty of adapting to technologies - is a psychosocial condition that can affect one’s emotional state and certainly seems to be affecting today’s society. This is no longer a concept that is exclusive to workers whose work activities are directly related to technology; it now also affects millions of students in education.

Digital migration forced by compulsory confinement has led to technostress in students all over the world, with consequences such as rejection, denial, fear, uncertainty and a series of other problems that affect students’ mental state and integrity. These conditions in turn lead to a decrease in the quality of education, as students become fatigued, tired, or bored by having to spend so much time in front of information and communication technologies.

The purpose of this chapter is to measure the level of technostress in higher education students who have been forced to change from on-site to the online educational models. It is also intended to compare the perception of the same students regarding these two educational models, in order to detect variants that affect their academic performance. The research uses a four-dimensional construct, in addition to analysing students’ perception of each educational model through a fifth dimension. The results show that for students, the forced change from on-site to online education has posed a great challenge, resulting in negation, rejection, and addiction, among other conditions, which together account for a high level of technostress.

Citation

Guerra, J.F., Manríquez, M.R. and Sierra, C.A.M. (2022), "Technostress in University Students as an Effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic", Limón, M.L.S. and García, M.L.S. (Ed.) Research in Administrative Sciences Under COVID-19, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 117-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-297-320221008