Digital Cage or Digital Empowerment? The Double-Edged Effects of Electronic Performance Monitoring on University Teaching Behavior

This study investigates how electronic performance monitoring (EPM) influences university teachers’ proactive and defensive teaching behaviors, drawing on the transactional theory of stress. A total of 315 faculty members participated in a three-wave time-lagged survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to validate the measurement model and test the hypothesized relationships. Results indicate that challenge and hindrance appraisals mediate the relationship between EPM and teachers’ behavioral responses. Moreover, teaching self-efficacy moderates these relationships by enhancing the impact of challenge appraisal on proactive teaching behavior. This study extends prior EPM research by exploring its effects in higher education contexts and revealing the cognitive mechanisms that shape differentiated instructional responses. Conducted in Chinese universities, it provides context-specific insights into how cultural and institutional norms shape teachers’ reactions to digital monitoring. It also offers practical implications for designing digital systems that support, rather than constrain, faculty engagement.