The Impact of Technostress on Employees' Psychological Well-being, with Digital Leadership as a Moderating Variable

Abstract

Digital transformation within educational institutions has altered the work patterns of teachers and administrative staff, enhancing efficiency while simultaneously triggering new psychological pressures known as "technostress." This study aims to empirically examine the impact of technostress on employee psychological well-being and to analyze the role of digital leadership as a moderating variable. A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing a total sampling technique (census sampling) that encompassed the entire workforce at Primary Plus Sutomo 1 Medan, consisting of 56 respondents. Primary data were collected via a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) based on mean-centering, with the support of IBM SPSS Statistics. The partial hypothesis testing (t-test) results indicate that technostress has a significant negative impact on employee psychological well-being (β1 = −13.164; t = −11.224; p < 0.001), whereas digital leadership has a significant positive impact (β2 = 9.168; t = 6.853; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the MRA interaction test confirms that digital leadership serves as a "buffering moderator," mitigating the negative influence of technostress on employee psychological well-being (β3 = +8.057; t = 5.858; p < 0.001). An Adjusted R-square value of 0.783 indicates that the research model accounts for 78.3% of the variance in employee psychological well-being. The implications of this study underscore the importance of implementing empathetic digital leadership, providing technical training, and establishing healthy guidelines for digital communication outside of working hours (digital detachment) to safeguard the mental well-being of employees in the digital era.