When Technological Pressure Is No Longer Merely a Burden: How Technological Overload and Technological Complexity Empower Employee Productivity

As digital transformation deepens, technostress has become a critical issue influencing employees’ work processes, yet prior research has largely emphasized its negative consequences. Integrating the Challenge Hindrance Stressor Framework and the Transactional Theory of Stress, this study examines how technostress is transformed into IT enabled productivity. Study 1 uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to show that high IT enabled productivity arises from specific configurations of technostress creators rather than a single stressor, with techno overload and techno complexity as core conditions. Building on these findings, Study 2 applies structural equation modeling and demonstrates that techno overload directly enhances IT enabled productivity, whereas techno complexity operates indirectly through IT self efficacy and IT autonomy. Importantly, IT autonomy serves as a stable mediating mechanism across both stressors. Overall, the findings indicate that technostress can generate positive performance outcomes when appraised as a challenge and supported by key psychological resources.