Who's in control? Mobile technology, work and life in Australia

Carroll, Robert

Who's in control? Mobile technology, work and life in Australia

Carroll, Robert

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2025

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Carroll, Robert
dc.date.accessioned	2025-12-15T23:38:48Z
dc.date.available	2025-12-15T23:38:48Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/190944
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	The widespread use of mobile technology, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, has had a profound impact on the way people work. Research suggests that mobile technology can be quite empowering, enabling people to work more flexibly, increasing their sense of job control, and enhancing their effectiveness. Paradoxically, this technology also has a dark side, with some researchers highlighting that constant connectivity can lead to work intensification and work-life conflict. This study develops and tests a conceptual model to explore the autonomy–control paradox of work-related mobile technology use and its impact on wellbeing. Using a mixed methods approach, including exploratory interviews and survey data from 233 participants, the research demonstrates that mobile technology generates both increased autonomy and heightened control, leading to positive and negative effects on job and life satisfaction. Furthermore, a paradox mindset can enhance these positive wellbeing outcomes, while supervisor technology norms shape the paradox and its effects. This study contributes to the mobile technology literature in several ways. By taking a predominantly quantitative approach, this study measured the paradoxical relationships between mobile technology use and the experience of autonomy and control. Furthermore, the research illustrated how the constructs of autonomy and control are interdependent, revealing that locational and temporal flexibility coexist with work-life conflict, and performance and job control sit alongside work intensity. The findings presented here, which show that mobile technology use can strengthen job satisfaction through the autonomy dimension and reduce it through the control side, add to a limited pool of empirical findings. Moreover, this study extends this stream of research by being the first to demonstrate how the work-related use of mobile technology impacts life satisfaction. This is also the first study to examine the role of the paradox mindset in moderating the paradoxical outcomes of mobile technology usage. Finally, the results challenge the notion that leader technology norms, which promote responsiveness and availability, are a job demand for workers and can, in fact, shape the autonomy-control paradox in ways which have positive consequences for their wellbeing. Amid growing demands for flexibility and work-life balance, the findings contribute practical insights for managers and HR practitioners as they support workers to navigate the impact of this technology on work and daily life.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/190944/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2025 Robert Carroll
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	Who's in control? Mobile technology, work and life in Australia	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

The widespread use of mobile technology, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, has had a profound impact on the way people work. Research suggests that mobile technology can be quite empowering, enabling people to work more flexibly, increasing their sense of job control, and enhancing their effectiveness. Paradoxically, this technology also has a dark side, with some researchers highlighting that constant connectivity can lead to work intensification and work-life conflict. This study develops and tests a conceptual model to explore the autonomy–control paradox of work-related mobile technology use and its impact on wellbeing. Using a mixed methods approach, including exploratory interviews and survey data from 233 participants, the research demonstrates that mobile technology generates both increased autonomy and heightened control, leading to positive and negative effects on job and life satisfaction. Furthermore, a paradox mindset can enhance these positive wellbeing outcomes, while supervisor technology norms shape the paradox and its effects. This study contributes to the mobile technology literature in several ways. By taking a predominantly quantitative approach, this study measured the paradoxical relationships between mobile technology use and the experience of autonomy and control. Furthermore, the research illustrated how the constructs of autonomy and control are interdependent, revealing that locational and temporal flexibility coexist with work-life conflict, and performance and job control sit alongside work intensity. The findings presented here, which show that mobile technology use can strengthen job satisfaction through the autonomy dimension and reduce it through the control side, add to a limited pool of empirical findings. Moreover, this study extends this stream of research by being the first to demonstrate how the work-related use of mobile technology impacts life satisfaction. This is also the first study to examine the role of the paradox mindset in moderating the paradoxical outcomes of mobile technology usage. Finally, the results challenge the notion that leader technology norms, which promote responsiveness and availability, are a job demand for workers and can, in fact, shape the autonomy-control paradox in ways which have positive consequences for their wellbeing. Amid growing demands for flexibility and work-life balance, the findings contribute practical insights for managers and HR practitioners as they support workers to navigate the impact of this technology on work and daily life.

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