Deciphering dynamic effects of mobile app addiction, privacy concern and cognitive overload on subjective well-being and academic expectancy: The pivotal function of perceived technostress

The burgeoning realm of mobile-assisted learning has garnered substantial scholarly and educational attention, attributable to its remarkably swift evolution and ubiquitous deployment. However, a conspicuous lacuna persists in scholarly inquiry regarding the dark side, particularly the adverse responses manifested by university students within higher education contexts. This study pioneers the application of the SSO framework to investigate university students' technostress in the context of mobile-assisted learning, addressing a critical gap in existing literature that predominantly focuses on corporate or faculty populations. Through the systematic analysis of statistics from 605 university students in mainland China, the conceptual model is empirically validated. Results demonstrate that mobile app addiction, privacy concern, and cognitive overload have statistically significant correlations with perceived technostress. Notably, privacy concern emerged as the strongest predictor of perceived technostress, a finding that challenges conventional assumptions about mobile app addiction as the primary stressor. Moreover, this current study discerns perceived technostress as a significant catalyst for attenuating subjective well-being and academic expectancy among university students. Significantly, mobile app addiction and privacy concern indirectly forecast subjective well-being, with perceived technostress serving as a critical mediator in this pathway. These insights offer actionable strategies for educators and app designers to mitigate technostress, thereby enhancing students’ well-being and academic expectancy. This study enriches the theoretical understanding of the adverse effects of mobile platforms on students and provides guidance for targeted interventions to reduce the negative impacts of mobile applications in educational settings.