From flexibility to fatigue: How job stress mediates the impact of mobile connectivity on burnout and engagement

KGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The proliferation of smartphones has transformed the modern workplace, blurring boundaries between personal and professional life. While smartphone use facilitates flexibility and real-time communication, it can also intensify job demands and emotional strain. Despite extensive global research on technology-related stress, limited attention has been given to the mediating role of job stress in the relationship between workplace smartphone use and employee well-being in the Iranian context. This study addresses this gap by investigating how smartphone use affects job burnout and engagement through the mediating mechanism of job stress.METHODS:This applied, quantitative research adopted a positivist paradigm and a deductive approach, utilizing a descriptive-survey design. Data were collected via an online questionnaire distributed among employees of Mobile Communication of Iran (Hamrah-e Aval), yielding ۳۱۳ valid responses from a total population of ۱,۷۰۰. Standardized questionnaires adapted from established scales on smartphone use, stress, job burnout, and engagement were employed. The instruments were validated through back-translation and expert review, and reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (all above ۰.۷۰). Structural Equation Modeling with Smart Partial Least Squares ۳ was employed for hypothesis testing.FINDINGS:Findings reveal that smartphone use significantly increases job stress (β = ۰.۲۶۲, p < ۰.۰۰۱). In turn, stress positively affects job burnout (β = ۰.۲۹۶, p < ۰.۰۰۱) and negatively affects job engagement (β = –۰.۱۸۲, p < ۰.۰۰۱). While smartphone use directly increases burnout (β = ۰.۱۶۸, p = ۰.۰۰۰), it does not directly impact job engagement (β = ۰.۰۸۸, p = ۰.۲۹۰). Mediation analysis confirmed that job stress partially mediates the relationship between smartphone use and both burnout and engagement.CONCLUSION:Workplace smartphone use has a dual impact: it indirectly contributes to job burnout and disengagement via increased stress. These findings emphasize the importance of managing job stress to mitigate the negative psychological outcomes of ubiquitous mobile connectivity. Organizations should implement targeted interventions—such as flexible work policies, stress-reduction programs, and smartphone usage guidelines—to enhance employee well-being and performance in digitally connected environments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Technostress ، Psychological detachment ، Digital work-life spillover ، Employee fatigue ، Mobile overuse