Blackberry Addiction: Symptoms and Outcomes

Pervasive information technologies, such as Blackberries, enable organizational users to interact with their working environments anytime and from anywhere. While such technologies can contribute to increased productivity, they can also drive addictive behaviors and negative consequences. An empirical study of 241 mobile email users revealed that their levels of addiction to mobile email increase their perceived work overload and technology-family conflict, work overload reduces their organizational commitment, and technology-family conflict diminishes the perceived usefulness of mobile email. Work overload together with technology-family conflict foster work-family conflict. Overall, this study distinguishes between technology-related and work-related conflict with one’s family, and validates several negative consequences of technology addiction. Implications for research and practice are offered.