Cyberloafing Behaviors Research Articles

Abusive Supervision as Predictor of Perceived Stress and Cyberloafing at Work

The increasing prevalence of Internet use in the recent years has led to a growing interest among researchers on cyberloafing behaviors. In general, cyberloafing at work is defined as the employees’ voluntary usage of the Internet for personal purposes. The previous research has shown its link with individual and organizational outcomes. This study in particular examines the effects of abusive supervision and perceived stress on cyberloafing behaviors among employees. In addition, it investigates whether perceived stress mediates this relationship. The sample consisted of 265 employees working at various sectors. They participated in an online survey, and filled out a questionnaire consisting of items that assess abusive supervision, perceived stress and cyberloafing behaviors at workplace. The results showed that abusive supervision positively predicts employees' cyberloafing behaviors It was also revealed that supervisor’s abusive behaviors predict greater levels of perceived stress among employees. However, the experience of stress did not play a mediating role in the relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing. This study contributes to a better understanding of the effects of leaders’ misbehaviors on employees’ psychological well-being and counterproductive behaviors at work. It also provides suggestions for managing with workplace mistreatment.

Determination of cyberloafing level of speech and Language Therapy Department students

Cyberloafing is the use of (e.g. smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the Internet) for purposes other than work related reasons during work hours. Although cyberloafing in the workplace has been widely investigated, there is relatively a small number of studies on cyberloafing behaviors in educational settings, which refer to students' tendencies to use technology for non-class-related purposes during lectures. The goal of the current study is to determine how frequently and for what purposes speech and language therapy (SLT) students at Biruni University engage in cyberloafing during lectures. In this quantitative study, The Cyberloafing Scale was administered to 264 undergraduate students (235 female; 27 male; 2 preferred not to disclose). The results revealed that SLT students’ cyberloafing behavior was very high. However, there is no statistically significant difference between the gender variable and the overall mean score for cyberloafing. There is a statistically significant difference between genders in gaming/gambling subscale favoring males and in shopping subscale favoring females. Further studies should be conducted to analyze cyberloafing behavior in health education.

Can Remote Work Be Adopted When Phubbing and Cyber Loafing Behavior Are on the Rise?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work became a prevalent practice for organizations, raising concerns about counterproductive behaviors like phubbing and cyberloafing. This research investigates the dynamics of these behaviors among employees working from home, focusing on social networking needs (SNN), perceptions of others' online behavior, and the pandemic's influence. Data from 222 remote employees were analyzed using structural equation modelling, revealing positive relationships between SNN, perceptions of others' online behavior, pandemic influence, and phubbing. Moreover, the study reveals the moderating effect of WFH on these relationships. These findings highlight the importance for HR practitioners and policymakers to understand and address phubbing and cyberloafing behaviors in remote work settings. This study fills critical research gaps, offering insights to mitigate the negative impacts of remote work policies, thereby enhancing organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. The chapter, therefore, aims to examine whether remote work can succeed amid rising phubbing and cyberloafing. Through analysis, it offers insights for HR and policymakers to manage these challenges effectively.

Academic stress and cyberloafing among university students: the mediating role of fatigue and self-control

This study aims to fill a gap in existing literature by investigating the relationship between academic stress and cyberloafing behavior among university students. By examining 415 final-year undergraduate students from various faculties at Girne American University, the research utilizes a correlational design to analyze the impact of academic stress on cyberloafing, considering the mediating effect of fatigue and the moderating influence of self-control. The findings reveal a significant positive association between academic stress and cyberloafing, with fatigue partially mediating this relationship and self-control moderating the influence. This research offers a novel perspective on understanding and addressing cyberloafing in educational settings, thereby contributing to the existing body of knowledge on this topic. The study’s methodology and findings provide valuable insights into the complex interplay of academic stress, fatigue, self-control, and cyberloafing, offering implications for educational institutions in addressing and mitigating cyberloafing behaviors among students.

İşe Yabancılaşma ile Sanal Kaytarma Arasındaki İlişki: Sağlık Çalışanlarına Yönelik Bir Araştırma

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between work alienation and cyberloafing among healthcare professionals. Besides, it is aimed to reveal the differences between both concepts according to sociodemographic variables. In the current research, a questionnaire form consisting of a cyberloafing scale, a work alienation scale, and sociodemographic characteristics were used as data collection tools. The questionnaire consists of 51 questions and 5 dimensions. The population of the research consists of 4042 people working at a public hospital, a hospital of health science university, and a private hospital. A total of 602 questionnaires were evaluated in these institutions. Based on the findings, there was a relationship between work alienation and cyberloafing behaviors of health professionals and some sociodemographic variables. In addition, there was a low-level positive and significant relationship between work alienation and cyberloafing levels of healthcare professionals. As a result of the correlation analysis in the study, a low-level positive and significant relationship was found between work alienation and cyberloafing. In addition, significant differences were found between work alienation, cyberloafing, and sociodemographic variables.

The Effect of Fear of Missing Out and Organizational Indiffirence on Cyberloafing Behavior: A Study on Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of fear of missing out and organizational indiffirence on cyberloafing behavior. For this purpose, data were collected from 167 students of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Education, Department of Social Studies Education by convenience sampling method in the period covering February-March 2023. In the questionnaire used in the research, the fear of missing out scale developed by Przybylski (2013) and consisting of 10 statements; the organizational indiffirence scale developed by Fard et al. (2011) and consisting of 13 statements; and the cyberloafing scale developed by Blanchard and Henle (2008) and consisting of 20 statements were used. In the study, quantitative research correlational survey model, one of the designs, was used. T-test, ANOVA, reliability analysis, factor analysis, correlation and regression analyses were performed on the collected data. According to the results of the analysis, both fear of missing out and indifference behaviors affect cyberloafing behaviors. In addition, fear of missing out, organizational indifference and cyberloafing behaviors differ according to the gender and grade of the students. With this study, it was tried to explain from a scientific perspective the cyberloafing, fear of missing out and organizational indifference behaviors observed by academics and lecturers during teahchingment.

Cyberloafing in the Online Synchronous Lessons: Exploring Variables Associated with University Students’ Cyberloafing Behaviors

Cyberloafing in the Online Synchronous Lessons: Exploring Variables Associated with University Students’ Cyberloafing Behaviors

Examining the role of cyberloafing, narcissism, locus of control, and social appearance anxiety on the Internet gaming disorder in university students

AbstractIndividual and multiple games played on the Internet are seen as a popular leisure activity, which is becoming increasingly common among young people. With the Covid 19 pandemic, the interest in Internet games has increased because young people spend more time at home. This has led to an increase in Internet gaming disorder, which is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization. When the literature is examined, attention is drawn to the importance of revealing the factors associated with Internet gaming disorder to combat Internet gaming disorder in young people. This research was carried out to reveal the Internet gaming disorder profiles of university students in Turkey and to determine the factors associated with it. In this direction, the structural relationships between cyberloafing, narcissism, locus of control, and social appearance anxiety variables, which are thought to be associated with Internet gaming disorder, were examined. The research data were obtained from 596 university students studying in various cities in Turkey. Research findings show that cyberloafing and locus of control directly affect Internet gaming disorder. Narcissism, on the other hand, has been shown to have a mediating effect on Internet gaming disorder through cyberloafing. It has been determined that Internet gaming disorder affects social appearance anxiety. Research results show that Internet gaming disorder can be reduced by improving internal locus of control and reducing cyberloafing behaviors and narcissism. The results of the research will provide tips to experts on interventions that can be made for students with Internet gaming disorder. In line with the findings obtained from the research, what can be done to combat Internet gaming disorder is discussed.

Investigating Cyberloafing and Academic Burnout in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aims: The present study was conducted with university students since it aims to explore the correlation between cyberloafing behavior in educational institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic and academic burnout.
 Study Design: Correlational survey model
 Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Education, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, between September 2021 and June 2022.
 Methodology: The population of the study, which employed correlational survey model, was a group of students attending a state-run Turkish University in İzmir. The sampling consisted of the students accessed by using conventional sampling method. The data for the purposes of the study were collected from 406 university students (249 female and 157 male) by administrating Personal Information Form, Cyberloafing Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Scale. SPSS 28.0 statistical package software was employed to do Pearson Correlation Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis.
 Results: The results of the analyses revealed a positive and significant but weak correlation between “shopping”, “real-time updating” and “gaming/gambling” dimensions of cyberloafing and “exhaustion” and “desensitization” dimensions of academic burnout. In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that dimensions of academic burnout along with “gender”, “age”, “year of study”, “academic GPA”, “attendance” and “duration of daily internet use” variables accounted 10.4% of total cyberloafing scale score. Finally, the study revealed that only “competence” dimension, “age”, “academic GPA” and “duration of daily internet use” variables significantly predict cyberloafing behavior. 
 Conclusion: It was found that as the academic burnout of university students increased, cyberloafing behaviors also increased. In this direction, psychological counseling programs can be developed to reduce the academic burnout of students. In addition, more studies can be conducted with students in different age groups to reveal the relationships between these variables.

Workplace Negative Gossip Atmosphere and Employees’ Cyberloafing Behaviors: Effects and Mechanisms

Most previous studies of workplace gossip pay attention to its impacts on the target of gossip, but few focus on how audience of gossip in the workplace may be influenced when workplace gossip happens. This study adopts audience-centric perspective to understand workplace negative gossip, proposes the construct of “workplace negative gossip atmosphere” (WNGA), and studies how employees’ perception of WNGA influence their behaviors (cyberloafing). Based on the theory of social information processing and ego depletion theory, this study proposes a dual path model under the “cognitive-emotional” framework. The data analysis software STATA 15.1 is used to analyse 243 employee data collected at 3 time points, and hierarchical regression analyses are conducted to to examine the model. Results show that: 1) WNGA positively influences employees’ cyberloafing behaviors; 2) Employees’ cognitive trust and emotional exhaustion play mediating roles between WNGA and cyberloafing behaviors, respectively. 3) Task interdependence is a moderator that changes both the relationship between WNGA and cognitive trust, and the relationship between WNGA and emotional exhaustion. This study broadens the research thinking in the field of workplace negative gossip and cyberloafing, and also offers some management suggestions for organizations.

Research on the cyberloafing levels of middle school students

The aim of this study was to examine the cyberloafing behaviors of middle school students during the lesson or while studying. Within the scope of this aim, cyberloafing levels of middle school students were examined by comparing them with the web platforms they use. For this research; which was modelled with explanatory sequential mixed pattern, one of the mixed methods, 355 middle school students were selected through the convenient sampling method that is one of the purposive sampling methods. 24 students were interviewed for the qualitative part of the study. Quantitative data were collected via Personal Information Form, Cyberloafing Activities Scale; and qualitative data were collected via Semi-Structured İnterview Form. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 program and content analysis. When the findings were examined, it was observed that the cyberloafing levels of middle school students were low. However, it was determined that students perform moderate cyberloafing in the "accessing content" and "sharing" sub-dimensions within the scope of the sub-dimensions of cyberloafing. It was observed that the cyberloafing behaviors of the students vary significantly in terms of their age, gender, and grade level. It was observed that middle school students mostly watch videos, listen to music, download applications, texting friends, etc., and perform cyberloafing on music websites, TV series websites, movie websites, YouTube, Instagram, and social media. In order to decrease the cyberloafing behaviors of middle school students, various suggestions were made, including the cooperation of parents and teachers.

Assessing the Workplace Cyberloafing Behavior among Pharmacists in Pakistan.

After the commencement of the Internet and the popularity of various electronic devices, cyberloafing has become prevalent in the workplace regardless of professional type, demographic characteristics, and country. Individuals use the Internet for work-irrelevant purposes during work hours, which is believed to have a controversial role in work productivity. However, rare studies have paid attention to the prevalence of cyberloafing behavior among Pakistan pharmacists. Considering pharmacists' essential role in the health sector, this study investigates the prevalence of cyberloafing activities among workplace pharmacists in Pakistan. This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 242 registered pharmacists in Pakistan between October 2021 and February 2022 with a structured self-administered online questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 200 valid responses after screening. Data were processed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses. Pearson Chi-square analysis was also used to test the correlation between factors. Descriptive analysis shows that pharmacists spend more time on sharing-related activities and least on gambling/gaming-related activities in the workplace. All the items' Cronbach's alpha values range from 0.923 to 0.927. The analysis indicates that (60%) pharmacists have intermediate Internet skills. The results also suggest that age, Internet usage, and work area have a strong relationship with cyberloafing behaviors which also, in turn, are linked with their perceived Internet skills. This study has important practical implications for pharmacy management in Pakistan. Cyberloafing behavior is prevalent among Pakistan pharmacists. Our findings could inspire how managers and all other relevant stakeholders could improve the pharmacy system in Pakistan.

Scrutinizing the interactions between college students' cyberloafing levels, reasons of cyberloafing, and academic self-efficacy by path analysis

The development of web-based technologies and mobile devices, as well as their widespread usage, create favorable conditions for cyberloafing behaviors, raising the effects of cyberloafing in educational settings. The current study, which examined the behavioral levels and reasons of cyberloafing committed by college students in lectures, as well as its relationship and interaction with academic self-efficacy, aims to reveal latent and observed relationships between cyberloafing factors through path analysis using a quantitative method. A total of 1245 college students [nfemale=713, (57.3%); nmale=532, (42.7%)] from various faculties who were instructed online via learning management systemsvolunteered to participate in the study. The findings of the path analysis of the structured model, which were assessed using the scales of cyberloafing, reasons of cyberloafing behavior levels, and levels of academic self-efficacy, were wellfit and validated. When the interactions of the factors of the verified model are examined, it is seen that Real-Time Updating is affected by Sharing and Gaming or Gambling, and Instructor-Induced Reasons affected by Motivation. Additionally, Motivation and Instructor-Induced Reasons are affected by Accessing Online Content; Learner Attitudes affected by Shopping, Sharing, and Real-Time Updating; and Real-Time Updating affected by Learner Attitudes, Motivation, Instructor-Induced Reasons, Sharing, and Gaming or Gambling factors. Furthermore, while Academic Self- Efficacy Factor is affected by Motivation and Gaming or Gambling factors, Real-Time Updating affects Learner Attitudes. The current study's findings reveal the reasons of the occurrence of cyberloafing behaviors in computer-based learning settings and the significance of academic self-efficacy.

Cyberloafing behaviors among university students: Their relationships with positive and negative affect.

With the technological advances, the use of digital devices, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones in the educational setting has become prevalent among young people. Accordingly, there has been an increased concern among scholars on students’ in-class Internet use for personal purposes; namely, ‘cyberloafing’. Considerable research has demonstrated the adverse effects of in-class Internet use on students’ learning environment and academic performance. The present study particularly investigates the relationship between cyberloafing behaviors and positive and negative affect among university students. It examines five different online activities including sharing, shopping, real-time updating, accessing online content, and gaming/gambling separately to gain greater insight into students’ cyberloafing behaviors. The sample consisted of 267 undergraduate students who filled out questionnaires measuring cyberloafing behaviors, positive and negative affect, and demographical information including the use of the Internet and mobile technologies. The initial analyses showed that male students had higher scores in shopping, accessing online content, and gaming/gambling than females. The latent variable analysis revealed that among different activities of cyberloafing, accessing online content and gaming/gambling were positively correlated with positive affect, while sharing was positively associated with negative affect among students. The findings emphasize the importance of evaluating cyberloafing as a part of students’ psychological well-being rather than a variable merely related to academic achievement. The findings of the study also enlighten researchers and educators in developing appropriate policies and interventions to manage misuse of the Internet in class.

A Study on Pre-service English Instructors' Cyberloafing Behaviors During Online Courses

Student cyberloafing is a concept that has been mainly investigated in face-to-face educational settings and there are only a few studies that concentrate on this issue in online settings. Therefore, to contribute to the existing line of literature in this respect, the current study sought to explore the types of cyberloafing activities students engage with during online classes, their reasons behind these behaviours, and their views on the possible solutions to prevent these. The sample of the study consisted of 68 preservice English teachers from a foundation university in Central Anatolia, Turkey. A qualitative survey research design was adopted in this study and to that end, data were collected using an online survey instrument that included a demographic information form and three questions related to the research questions. To seek answers to the research questions, data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that preservice English teachers engaged with a wide variety of cyberloafing activities. Moreover, emerging themes with respect to reasons for cyberloafing were instructor, student, course-content, learning environment, and technology-related reasons for cyberloafing whereas themes regarding possible solutions to prevent it were instructor, student, and institution-based solutions.

Differences of Cyberloafing Behavior Outcomes on Men and Women Employees

The activities of reading news, chatting, viewing YouTube and Facebook or even status updates, Instagram, buying and selling online, to playing online games that are not related to work by using internet facilities are cyberloafing behaviors that are often carried out by employees. The limitations of previous research examining the impact of cyberloafing on work behavior empirically are still very limited. In addition, previous research that explains the occurrence of cyberloafing behavior also shows results that have not been established. Encouraged by these findings, this study aimed to examine the factors that explain cyberloafing behavior and its impact on employees' organizational behavior. To meet these objectives, an empirical model was developed with job characteristics and self-control variables as exogenous variables, job stress and cyberloafing as mediating variables and laziness as endogenous variables. Testing the influence between these variables was carried out with an analytical approach to Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) which used empirical data obtained through questionnaires as an interview guide to employee respondents in various fields of work. The results of data analysis showed that job characteristics, self control, and job stress were statistically proven to have an effect on cyberloafing behavior. Cyberloafing testing on negative organizational behavior, namely laziness also shows a real influence. In addition, the results of this study also show that there are differences in prevalence caused by cyberloafing behavior between male and female employees.

Teacher Candidates' Cyberloafing Behaviors in Terms of Different Variables

This is a descriptive study in the survey model conducted to examine teacher candidates' cyberloafing behaviors in terms of different variables. The study population consists of teacher candidates attending different departments of a state university in the academic year 2017-2018. To create the sample, students from all grade levels in randomly chosen fields of study from different departments of Education Faculty. Research data were collected using the “Scale of Cyberloafing Activities” and the “Personal Information Form”. The data collection tools were delivered from a total of 918 teacher candidates who participated in the study voluntarily. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U, and the Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied for data analysis. As a result of the study, it was detected that the teacher candidates' level of cyberloafing in the educational setting was "low," and that they usually accessed social networks and news sites. With regard to gender, it was observed that male teacher candidates, and with regard to departments that Science, Social and Turkish Education students, engaged more in cyberloafing. More than half of the participants defined their internet usage skills on an advanced and expert level, and it was detected that the level of cyberloafing increased as expertise increased. It was determined that the level of cyberloafing increased in conjunction with an increasing frequency of teacher candidates' usage of the internet on their mobile phones during the lesson and increasing grade levels.

Do Deterrence Mechanisms Reduce Cyberloafing When It Is an Observed Workplace Norm? A Moderated Mediation Model.

Despite the documented individual, job, and organizational antecedents of cyberloafing at the workplace, few studies have addressed whether, how and when group factors affect employees’ cyberloafing behaviors. Drawing on social learning theory and general deterrence theory, the purpose of this study is to test if observability of coworkers’ cyberloafing behavior affects employees’ perceptions of norms related to cyberloafing and subsequent cyberloafing behaviors and to test if sanctions can play a role in buffering these effects. An investigation of 335 employees working at Chinese enterprises establishes that observing others engaging in cyberloafing influences the employees’ perceived norms and cyberloafing behaviors and that employees’ perceived norms related to cyberloafing play a partial mediating role in the relationship between observability and employees’ cyberloafing. As predicted, we also found that perceived certainty and severity of potential sanctions for cyberloafing moderate the effect of observability on employees’ cyberloafing as well as the indirect effect of observability on employees’ cyberloafing via perceived norms related to cyberloafing. This study enriched the cyberloafing literature by revealing how observability of cyberloafing influences employees’ cyberloafing and by unveiling two boundary conditions under which the cyberloafing learning effect can be buffered.

Cyberloafing Behaviors of Health Professional Students during Distance Education in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

Background: With the declaration of the new coronavirus (COVID ‐ 19) pandemic, which was detected in the Wuhan region of China and later seen in many countries of the world, education and training were significantly affected in all countries, and distance education started to be used in all areas of education. To this end, students can exhibit cyberloafing behaviors during distance education for various reasons. Thus, this study aims to determine the levels of cyberloafing and the factors affecting these behaviors of students studying in health programs during distance education. Methods: In this descriptive study, 405 students studying in the health programs of various private and public universities in Turkey and met the criteria for inclusion in the study formed the research sample. Results: When the students’ tools to access distance education during the pandemic process were compared, it was found that students using computers had higher levels of cyberloafing activities than those using other tools (p<0,05). Conclusions: Distance education keeps students connected to technological tools, increases the risk of engaging in activities irrelevant to the course, and thus leads them to exhibit cyberloafing behaviors.
 Keywords: Distance education; cyberloafing; COVID-19

An Investigation of Cyberloafing in a Large-Scale Technology Organization From the Perspective of the Theory of Interpersonal Behavior

Employees in many organizations often spend time with information and communication technologies and engage in personal business instead of spending their time fully on work-related tasks. For some, such activities constitute inefficient use of time because they prevent employees from completing the tasks that they are responsible. For some others, cyberloafing behaviors help employees to reduce their stress and increase their efficiency. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of some organizational and individual variables with cyberloafing in the context of Interpersonal Behavior Theory. This mixed research study was designed with an explanatory approach. Quantitative data was collected from 240 employees; then by considering the quantitative data, interview questions were prepared and the qualitative data collection process was completed with 20 participants. According to the results; the perceptions of employees about the penalties and benefits that may emerge in case of cyberloafing affect their attitudes towards cyberloafing positively. Positive emotions for cyberloafing and social factors have a positive effect on cyberloafing intention. Social factors have a positive relationship with roles, rules and self-concept. Habits and intention increase employees’ cyberloafing behaviors. The most frequent cyberloafing behaviors are messaging and reading news. The implications of the results are discussed.