Measuring Technostress in Everyday Life: Development and Validation of an Assessment Scale

Abstract

As technology becomes ever-present in daily routines, the impact of technostress (TS) extends beyond the workplace, calling for a broader investigation of the construct. This study was aimed at developing a scale to measure TS in everyday life. A 68-item pool capturing key TS dimensions (TS creators) identified through literature review was administered to a large sample of respondents from the general population (N = 602). A cross-validation approach employing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a final 20-item scale assessing four main factors: techno-overload/invasion (T-OI), techno-complexity/uncertainty (T-CU), techno-insecurity/privacy (T-IP), and techno-relationships/isolation (T-RI). The scale, called Everyday Life TS Scale (ELTS), exhibited strong psychometric properties, including high reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and invariance across gender and two age groups. Interestingly, latent mean differences emerged, with younger individuals and females reporting higher levels of T-OI, while older individuals and females reported higher levels of T-CU. Older respondents also showed higher levels of T-IP. Consistent with previous research, TS dimensions correlated positively with neuroticism and negatively with life satisfaction and well-being (psychological, social, and emotional). The ELTS uniquely contributes to the field by addressing TS in everyday contexts, beyond traditional workplace-focused measures. The ELTS offers a valuable tool for assessing TS in the general population beyond the workplace. Moreover, it can be a useful resource for facilitating a smoother integration of technology into daily life and promoting well-being.