Analysis of university professors in economic sciences: PMH scale and technostress as main antecedents of academic self-perception

Abstract

In order to establish the relationship between the academic self-perception of university professors according to their gender, which takes into account the internal and external factors, such as technostress, the PMH scale (unidimensional Positive Mental Health Scale) and the factors that are related to an organization, which is understood to be a university, are the climate and the commitment of the professor, which are the constructs that were used in our research. The research was conducted by using a sample of 161 active university professors of economics from both sexes. The analysis of the results that were obtained were conducted via a mixed analysis using symmetric methodology (partial least squares structural equation modeling “PLS-SEM”). In addition, a multigroup analysis (Partial Least Squares Multi-Group Analysis “PLS-MGA”) was performed according to the sex as well as asymmetric (Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis “fs/QCA”), which is where the different combinations of the antecedents that lead to the common result are established. Technostress is unequally related to the model variables. It is significant with respect to Academic Self-perception (AS), Organizational Climate (OC), and PMH-Scale (PMH), which even results in a positive relationship with OC and PMH This indicates that in academia certain levels of technostress can generate positive results. This fact is also demonstrated by the presence of the variable in the solutions that were generated using the asymmetric method. The demands of the new technological adoptions among university professors are generating the modification of perceptions and therefore behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to control the level of technostress assumed by men from the teaching centers as well as regulating the technological contributions and their introduction in the classrooms. The study proposes a novel approach due to the implementation of a mixed methodology of analyses. Most previous analyses have focused on case studies or students. The conclusions are relevant for the necessary technological implementation in university classrooms.