Impact of regulatory focus on security technostress and organizational outcomes: the moderating effect of security technostress inhibitors

Abstract

Purpose

Organizations invest in information security (IS) technology to be more competitive; however, implementing IS measures creates environmental conditions, such as overload uncertainty, and complexity, which can cause employees technostress, eventually resulting in poor security performance. This study seeks to contribute to the intersection of research on regulatory focus (promotion and prevention) as a type of individual personality traits, technostress, and IS.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire was developed, collecting 346 responses from various organizations, which were analyzed using the structural equation model approach with AMOS 22.0 to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicate support for both the direct and moderating effects of security technostress inhibitors. Moreover, a negative relationship exists between promotion-focused employees and facilitators of security technostress, which negatively affects strains (organizational commitment and compliance intention).

Practical implications

Organizations should develop various programs and establish a highly IS-aware environment to strengthen employees' behavior regarding IS. Furthermore, organizations should consider employees' focus types when engaging in efforts to minimize security technostress, as lowering technostress results in positive outcomes.

Originality/value

IS management at the organizational level is directly related to employees' compliance with security rather than being a technical issue. Using the transaction theory perspective, this study seeks to enhance current research on employees' behavior, particularly focusing on the effect of individuals' personality types on IS. Moreover, this study theorizes the role of security technostress inhibitors for understanding employees' IS behaviors.

Citation

Hwang, I., Kim, S. and Rebman, C. (2022), "Impact of regulatory focus on security technostress and organizational outcomes: the moderating effect of security technostress inhibitors", Information Technology & People, Vol. 35 No. 7, pp. 2043-2074. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-05-2019-0239