Development of wearable mental workload (MWL) measures thrives, especially as leveraged by Industry 4.0 . When employees object to wearing such gauges; however, research efforts might end up redundant. Based on self-determination and communication theories, this study assumed that employees’ acceptability of wearable MWL-monitoring is shaped by framing characteristics in corporate communication. Specifically, we hypothesized that acceptability depends on how (1) the technology’s goals and (2) context of implementation is framed. A pilot study ( N = 150) revealed that framing wearable MWL-monitoring in terms of serving intrinsic goals (e.g., improving health) in an autonomy-supportive context (e.g., allowing discussion) induced a higher employee acceptability, compared to framing the technology in terms of serving extrinsic goals (e.g., increasing productivity) in a controlling context (e.g., mandating use). A subsequent pre-registered study ( N = 350) could, however, not replicate this result. Instead, higher acceptability was associated with higher technology readiness, lower education levels, and being a woman (for the trust component of acceptability). Independent of conditions, mean acceptability, interestingly, panned out neutral. The current work is thereby the first exploring the complexities of employee acceptability of wearable MWL-monitoring and, based on open-ended questions, finally suggests that privacy management might be the most pivotal explanatory variable.

中文翻译：

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员工对可穿戴心理工作量监控的接受度：探索在企业沟通中制定目标和背景的影响

可穿戴脑力工作量 (MWL) 措施的发展蓬勃发展，尤其是在工业 4.0 的影响下。当员工反对佩戴此类仪表时；然而，研究工作最终可能是多余的。本研究基于自我决定和沟通理论，假设员工对可穿戴 MWL 监控的接受度受企业沟通中的框架特征影响。具体来说，我们假设可接受性取决于 (1) 技术的目标和 (2) 实施的上下文是如何构建的。一项试点研究 (N = 150) 表明，与构建技术相比，在支持自主的环境（例如，允许讨论）中，根据服务内在目标（例如，改善健康）来构建可穿戴 MWL 监控会引起更高的员工接受度在服务外在目标方面（例如，提高生产力）在控制背景下（例如，强制使用）。然而，随后的预注册研究 (N = 350) 无法复制这一结果。相反，较高的可接受性与较高的技术准备程度、较低的教育水平和女性身份（对于可接受性的信任部分）有关。独立于条件，平均可接受性，有趣的是，中性。因此，当前的工作首次探索了员工对可穿戴 MWL 监控的可接受性的复杂性，并基于开放式问题，最终表明隐私管理可能是最关键的解释变量。较高的可接受性与较高的技术准备程度、较低的教育水平和女性身份（对于可接受性的信任部分）有关。独立于条件，平均可接受性，有趣的是，中性。因此，当前的工作首次探索了员工对可穿戴 MWL 监控的可接受性的复杂性，并基于开放式问题，最终表明隐私管理可能是最关键的解释变量。较高的可接受性与较高的技术准备程度、较低的教育水平和女性身份（对于可接受性的信任部分）有关。独立于条件，平均可接受性，有趣的是，中性。因此，当前的工作首次探索了员工对可穿戴 MWL 监控的可接受性的复杂性，并基于开放式问题，最终表明隐私管理可能是最关键的解释变量。