Investigating the effects of online communication apprehension and digital technology anxiety on organizational dissent in virtual teams

Abstract

Working in virtual teams has become increasingly common in contemporary workplaces with technology that allows teams to collaborate online without being present in the same physical space. For some employees, communicating via virtual technologies such as email, phone, video conferences or applications to work in teams can cause anxiety, which in turn may influence their decision to engage in organizational dissent. This study examines the impact of two forms of online anxiety on employees' virtual organizational dissent: online communication apprehension and digital technology anxiety. The effects of age, technical skills, the portion of workload done virtually, and previous experience in virtual teamwork were included in the study as control variables. Using factorial analysis and structural equation modeling, the results from 321 volunteer employees of various US organizations (males = 135, females = 184, others = 2) were analyzed. The results show that the two forms of online anxiety and technical skills generally increase organizational dissent and aging significantly decreases virtual latent dissent. The study's findings support the social compensation hypothesis of online media use.