Mitigating Technostress in Nigerian Working-Class Families: A Socio-Technical Approach to E-Payment System Adoption

Technostress, the psychological strain induced by excessive technology use, has become a pressing issue in the digital era, particularly in developing economies where rapid adoption is often driven by policy. This study investigates technostress among Nigerian working-class families in the context of e-payment adoption, especially during the recent cashless and demonetization policies implementation. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, we employ a mixed-methods design that combines survey data (n = 362) with interviews and focus groups. Findings reveal that while e-payments enhance financial inclusion, they also introduce stress through low digital literacy, infrastructural fragility, and cybersecurity anxieties. Socio-technical enablers such as organisational support, user-centred design, and community learning significantly mitigate these pressures. By extending technostress research from workplace settings to households, this paper contributes to Information Systems (IS) theory, informs practice, and highlights policy pathways for sustainable financial digitalisation in the Global South.