Psychological and Health Outcomes of Perceived Information Overload

By Shalini Misra, D. Stokols. 2012

306 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The rapid growth and transmission of information in the digital age poses new challenges for individuals coping with the onslaught of communications from multiple sources. This research (a) conceptualizes and measures perceived information overload from cyber-based and place-based sources, (b) tests the reliability and validity of a newly developed Perceived Information Overload Scale, and (c) tests hypotheses concerning the psychological and health outcomes of information overload. A repeated-measures panel study design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the hypothesized two-factor model of perceived information overload, encompassing cyber-based and place-based sources of stimulation. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that higher levels of perceived cyber-based overload significantly predicted self-reports of greater stress, poorer health, and less time devoted to contemplative activities, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and baseline measures of stress and health status. Participants’ sensation-seeking levels were found to significantly moderate the relationships between cyber-based, place-based, and composite perceived information overload and stress. Directions for further study are discussed.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Information Systems and Management, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/43163eb6a1c1e8712728f1fe2804f40e967df3c4

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Applied Psychology

1. Klaus Wölfling
2. Leonard Reinecke

In Information Systems and Management

1. Ae Ri Lee
2. Leonard Reinecke
3. Shalini Misra
4. Kyung-Kyu Kim
5. Soomin Son
6. A. K. M. Najmul Islam

In Sociology and Political Science

1. Jamie Genevie
2. Oliver Quiring
3. Birgit Stark
4. Miao Yuan
5. Michael Dreier
6. Klaus Wölfling
7. Stefan Aufenanger
8. Lulu Cheng

Citations in the corpus

• Digital Stress over the Life Span: The Effects of Communication Load and Internet Multitasking on Perceived Stress and Psychological Health Impairments in a German Probability Sample (2017, background): “…the social expectations to respond to online communication, the sheer mass of communication content, as well as the growing trend of combining Internet use with other simultaneous activitiesmay expose users to information overload and impair their psychological well-being (Misra & Stokols, 2012).”
• The iPhone Effect (2016, background): “In effect, information and communication technologies have created a new category of sensory overload, called cyber-based overload (Misra & Stokols, 2012a).”
• Information and communication technology overload and social networking service fatigue: A stress perspective (2016, background): “Misra and Stokols (2011) noted that advanced ICT tends to burden people behaviorally and psychologically.”