Smartphone Intrusion: Has Social Interaction Online Blurred the Work–Life Boundary of Employees?

Abstract

This article examined the phenomenon about social connectivity behavior after-hours in hotel industry, which emerged from smartphones enabling hotel employees to socialize with work-related people anywhere and anytime. Results from longitudinal data showed that social connectivity behavior after-hours on smartphones would lead hotel employees to suffer from work–life conflict. The increase in such behavior could trigger corresponding increase in work–life conflict over time. For hotel employees with weak segmentation preference, the dynamic effect of such behavior on work–life conflict was greater. Besides, impression management and subjective norm were the motivation and cognition cause behind such behavior respectively. Over time, both of them positively influenced the initial level and change rate of this behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of findings in this article were discussed.