Digitally Connected, Evolutionarily Wired: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective on Digital Work.

This paper makes the case for an evolutionary mismatch between digital work and the way human ancestors engaged in work. Psychological adaptations for producing things that early humans needed to survive and thrive, such as cognitive mechanisms for obtaining and processing food, toolmaking, and learning valuable working skills, evolved in the context of small networks of hunter–gatherers. These adaptations are central to understanding the significance of work in human evolution. Evolutionary mismatches operate when novel environments cue ancestral adaptations in ways that no longer provide adaptive benefits. We argue that digital work, although efficient and productive, is misaligned with some fundamental human needs, preferences, and routines, thereby illuminating a potential dark side. Yet digitalization also offers opportunities for matching the modern work environment to our evolved work psychology. We conclude with an agenda for advancing research in industrial and organizational psychology on digital work from an evolutionary mismatch perspective. Digital Work and Human Evolution: This paper talks about how the way we work now with computers and digital technology is verydifferent from how our human ancestors used to work. Our ancestors had to do specific tasks to survive, like finding food and making tools. These tasks were done in small nomadic groups. Our brains evolved to be good at these tasks. But now, our work is mostly done on computers with digital tools. This can sometimes make us feel stressed or unhappy because it doesn't match up with what our brains are good at. However, there are also positive things about working with digital technology, for example, that we can work from anywhere. We should do more research on this topic to understand it better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]