The Relationship between Computer-Mediated Communication Use and Daily Need Satisfaction: The Role of...

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Workplace Well-being

Background:

• Employees extensively use computer-mediated communication (CMC), yet its effects on well-being are complex and not fully understood.
• Job design theory and self-determination theory offer frameworks to analyze CMC's impact on employee psychological needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the dual role of CMC in satisfying and challenging employee basic psychological needs.
• To examine how social support and job demands mediate the relationship between CMC and need satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• A daily diary study was conducted with 143 employees working from home.
• Data collected over at least two days assessed CMC use, social support, job demands (interruptions, techno-workload), and basic need satisfaction (relatedness, competence, autonomy).

Main Results:

• CMC use positively correlated with relatedness satisfaction, mediated by increased social support.
• CMC use negatively correlated with autonomy satisfaction, mediated by task interruptions and techno-workload.
• The study confirmed the dual impact of CMC on psychological need satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• CMC can enhance relatedness by facilitating social support but may decrease autonomy through job demands.
• Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for optimizing CMC use to support employee well-being and performance.
• Job design strategies should address both the resource-providing and demand-creating aspects of CMC.