Peking U., School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, China
The rapid integration of technology into the workplace drives high productivity but also pervasive and unavoidable technostressors. These technostressors present a paradox: they compel employees to adopt technology for greater efficiency, but at the same time diminish employees’ humanity by enforcing conformity to technological demands, which may suppress creativity. A critical question arises: how can organizations help employees maximize the benefits of technostressors while minimizing their harms? In this study, drawing on objectification theory and the compassion literature, we propose that leader compassion plays a pivotal role in shielding employees’ humanity, thereby reducing technostressors-induced objectification and ultimately fostering creative behavior. Using a multi-wave survey and a scenario-based experiment, we find that leader compassion effectively mitigates the effect of technostressors on employee perceived objectification and its subsequent detrimental impact on creative behavior. This study provides a novel theoretical perspective on the complex effects of technostressors on employees’ humanity and subsequent behaviors, offering practical insights for organizations seeking to foster employee creative behavior under technostressors.
