The costs of technostress when working remotely: A multi-method investigation of technostress creators, job autonomy, and stress biomarkers in a perspective of job demands and resources

Building on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, in this study we investigated the association between technology-related risk factors — referred to in the literature as technostress creators (TCs) —, job autonomy (JA), and the ratio of cortisol to dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA(S)) in hair as possible biomarker of work-related stress. A total of 85 remote workers (i.e., smart workers) in a private metalworking company completed a self-report questionnaire (i.e., psychological data) and contextually provided a strand of hair (i.e., biological data). Results from moderated multiple regression analysis showed that techno-insecurity was positively associated with log cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio at average levels of job autonomy. Additionally, JA exacerbated — rather than buffered — the association between techno-overload/-invasion/-insecurity and log cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio. Our results suggest that hair cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio is a promising biomarker of technostress, and that remote workers may not necessarily benefit from traditional job resources such as JA. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.