Understanding the Impact of Technostress on University Teachers’ Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic with the Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS)

Colleges and universities worldwide have adopted online teaching for short or long periods in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examines the appraisal results of specific techno-stressors related to online instruction and how these appraisal results impact teachers’ continuance intention towards online instruction. The investigation is important because it enables university administrators to manage different techno-stressors distinctively and adopt appropriate coping strategies to support online teaching. A research model is developed based on the transactional theory of stress (TTS) and tested empirically with a sample of 201 university teachers in China. The results reveal that (a) work overload is positively associated with university teachers’ challenge appraisal but negatively associated with their threat appraisal; (b) invasion of privacy is not significantly associated with challenge or threat appraisal; (c) work–home conflict is positively associated with threat appraisal but negatively associated with challenge appraisal; and (d) challenge appraisal is positively associated with continuance intention, while threat appraisal is negatively associated with continuance intention. Implications for online learning during pandemics are discussed.