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Cellphones raise work-home stress
Increasing use of cellphones and pagers may be blurring the
boundaries between work and home and raising stress levels at both
places.
A new study shows use of cellphones can cause work worries to
spill over into home time for both men and women. But only women
seem to suffer from the opposite effect with cellphones carrying
family concerns into the office.
The results showed that ongoing use of mobile communications
technology such as cellphones and pagers—but not email—was linked
to heightened psychological stress and reduced family
satisfaction.
Researchers say the findings suggest that cellphone technology may
male people more accressible but at a psychological cost.
In the study, researchers analyzed data from a survey of working
couples to determine if increasing spillover between work and home
caused by new technology was linked to any changes in
psychological distress or family satisfaction over time.
The results recently pubished in the Journal of Marriage and
Family, showed that increasing use of cellphones and pagers was
linked to a decrease in family satisfaction and increased stress
over a two year period.
Researchers found work worries carrying over into home life caused
by cellphone use had negative consequences for both men and women,
but only women suffered from the opposite effect with carryover
from home causing increasing stress a work.
The results suggest that for women, spillover from both work and
family worries and responsibilities negatively affects their level
of stress and family satisfaction.
But researchers say use of cellphones and pagers become
increasingly prevalent, the line between family and work life may
continue to blur.
The question of blurred boundaries may become irrelevant one for
the next generation of workers. Even so,worries about the
implications for technology users are not likely to disappear,
says the researchers.
