Shhhh, I'm Working!: Working from Home and Struggling to Manage Relationships

Sample

While technology use can create relational closeness, social support, and immediacy (Caughlin & Sharabi, 2013), technology use also contributes to stress when crossing personal and professional borders (Ruppel, Gong, & Tworoger, 2013). For example, Wright and colleagues (2014) studied how using technology to extend regular working hours can be negatively or positively perceived. They reported that employees using technology to work at home experience greater work–life conflict; however, if employees consider the technology to be useful, technology can be a positive and “convenient means of connecting with work, while in the home environment or outside of work life” (Wright et al., 2014, p. 522). Further, Boswell and Olson-Buchanan (2007) note benefits and drawbacks, explaining that after-hours technology use enhances work relationships and worker identities, while, at the same time, negatively influencing family relationships. As communication technologies increase, it is important to consider how technology influences communication patterns around work and private life. In the following sections, we explain work–family border theory (Clark, 2000) and online disinhibition effects (Suler, 2004). Then, we provide a case delineating a case study subject’s (Megan’s) experiences as a new graduate and remote worker to explore how technology enables and constrains her work and personal relationships. We conclude by applying these theories to her case to analyze and discuss implications.