Can Information Systems Reduce Stress? The Impact of Information Systems on Perceived Stress and Attitude

In recent years, the phenomenon of technostress has been occurring more frequently. While most research has focused on stress caused by the use of IS, we took the opposite approach: in this paper, we merge research approaches from IS, behavioral theory, and stress to investigate whether IS can also be used to reduce the level of perceived stress. In addition, we investigate the relationship between stress and attitude toward behavior. To do so, we conducted a mental simulation experiment using the example of range anxiety to determine the impact of IS on the appraisal processes. We found evidence that events are less frequently appraised as stressful when supportive IS are used. Furthermore, we were able to show that the reduction of perceived stress negatively influences attitude toward behavior. This result is of particular importance as attitude toward behavior plays an important role in predicting behavioral intention.