Basic psychological needs related to information ergonomics and loneliness

Abstract

Remote working, particularly online teaching, in academia has significantly increased during and after COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, loneliness at work has risen. Working in remote environments therefore requires employees to develop new types of working habits and psychological resilience. This study examines how basic psychological needs satisfaction related to online teaching has affected academics experiences of perceived usefulness of technology in their work, technostress and their sense of loneliness. The study is based on a survey dataset (n=201) collected of two Ghanaian universities during October 2023 to January 2024. The distributions of the item means were compared across the quantiles of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The results enhance the understanding to what level academics experience loneliness in collectivistic country like Ghana, and how basic psychological needs satisfaction in online teaching, perceived usefulness of technology and technostress interact in that relationship also from academic role perspective. The results provide useful information for academic working and curriculum planning as well as points for wellbeing at work considerations.

Keywords: information ergonomics, online teaching, psychological needs, loneliness

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005695