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Mental wellbeing in digital workplaces: The role of digital resources, technostress, and burnout

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  • Li, Xue
  • Seah, Rachel Yan Ting
  • Yuen, Kum Fai

Abstract

As the maritime industry navigates the challenges and opportunities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital transformation emerges as a key agent in reshaping operational dynamics and workforce well-being. Recognising the profound impact of this transformation, this research explores how various digital factors are related to technostress, burnout, and mental well-being of maritime workforce. Utilising the job demands-resources theoretical model, a framework was constructed to examine their relationships. Through a survey questionnaire, responses from 187 maritime professionals across various roles were collected for analysis. Employing structural equation modelling, the findings reveal that digital culture and digital knowledge management have the largest negative association with technostress, followed by digital leadership, capabilities, and human resource management, in descending order. Additionally, technostress was identified to be both directly and indirectly associated with mental well-being, with burnout serving as a mediator. These insights extend the discourse on technostress within the maritime context, using the job demands-resources model to elucidate the complex interplay between digital transformation initiatives and mental well-being. Furthermore, the study offers actionable strategies for maritime organisations, underscoring the importance of fostering a conducive digital environment, prioritising the advancement of digital capabilities and knowledge management, and reinforcing leadership competencies to adeptly steer through the intricacies of digital transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Xue & Seah, Rachel Yan Ting & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2025. "Mental wellbeing in digital workplaces: The role of digital resources, technostress, and burnout," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:81:y:2025:i:c:s0160791x2500034x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2025.102844
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    1. Panteha Farmanesh & Asim Vehbi & Niloofar Solati Dehkordi, 2025. "Uprooting Technostress: Digital Leadership Empowering Employee Well-Being in the Era of Industry 4.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Ibrahim Alkish & Kolawole Iyiola & Ahmad Bassam Alzubi & Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, 2025. "Does Digitization Lead to Sustainable Economic Behavior? Investigating the Roles of Employee Well-Being and Learning Orientation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-29, May.
    3. Irina ANDREI-BARBU & Mihaela PĂCEȘILĂ & Cătălina-Oana DUMITRESCU, 2025. "burnout in the era of artificial intelligence: challenges and benefits," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 20(4), pages 36-47, November.

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