To be or not to be stressed: Designing autonomy to reduce stress at work

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many organizations are undertaking efforts to reduce the stress of (oftentimes overworked) employees Information Technology (IT) (e.g., smartphones) has the potential to be a key instrument for reducing stress One design-relevant factor considered to reduce stress is the concept of autonomy Unfortunately, little research exists using autonomy as a characteristic of technology design OBJECTIVE: Against this background, this study aimed to investigate specific autonomy-related design options with the potential to prevent stress METHODS: In a factorial survey, this experimental study tested three design options in an overwork scenario: 1) autonomy (no intervention by design), 2) nudge ('nudging' by design), and 3) enforcement (hard stop by design) 51 participants (mean age 38 years, 50% women, mean work experience 18 years) from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Germany participated in the experiment for 330 seconds on average To test our hypothesis, we used a two-step approach First, a multiple linear regression was applied Second, we carried out a one-way ANCOVA comparing the effects of our design options RESULTS: Our results indicate that autonomy can be manipulated through technology design and is negatively correlated with stress Additionally, the design options autonomy and nudge were associated with lower levels of perceived stress than was enforcement CONCLUSION: The study proposes a careful use of IT and policies that limit the perceived autonomy of employees Overall, this study offers a set of design recommendations arguing that organizations should implement technology that helps employees prevent overwork and maintain their autonomy.