Shifting the literature from who and when to why: Identifying cyberloafing motives

Abstract

In their review of the literature, Lim and Teo (2022) detail the individual, interpersonal, and situational antecedents of cyberloafing, which sheds light on which employees may be predisposed toward this behavior (e.g., younger, male, single, highly educated, and extraverts). Furthermore, they point out that certain situational factors enhance the likelihood of cyberloafing at work (e.g., easy access to the Internet at work, low visibility of one's computer screen, coworker approval of or engagement in the behavior). Although the who and when are informative, an important piece of the puzzle is missing, the why. We need to move beyond descriptive research and seek to identify the motives driving employees' choice to cyberloaf. This knowledge will help determine whether cyberloafing is harmful or helpful as well as how company policies should approach this behavior.

Advancing research on cyberloafing: Response to commentaries on “Cyberloafing: A review and research agenda”

“…In the review article, we presented and discussed the antecedents of cyberloafing, highlighting that individual characteristics and situational factors shaped individuals' cyberloafing behaviors at work. Building on the idea that cyberloafing can be restorative or counterproductive, Henle (2023) proposed four motives underlying why people cyberloaf. These motives are (i) coping with high demands, (ii) coping with low demands, (iii) retaliation against inequalities, and (iv) facilitating learning and creativity.…”

“…Employees engage in cyberloafing as a way to cope with stressors in the form of high or low job demands. While engaging in cyberloafing as a form of coping with stressors can bring the individuals' physiological systems to a pre-stressor level, Henle (2023) raised the intriguing idea that the motives driving cyberloafing may result in different outcomes.…”

Unintended influence of leader forgiveness: increased employee cyberloafing

“…Extant research has mainly drawn from the social exchange and ego depletion views to explain why employees engage in cyberloafing (Henle, n.d; Lim, 2002; Usman et al ., 2021; Wagner et al ., 2012; Yang et al ., 2023). Social exchange theory suggests that employees may engage in cyberloafing in order to retaliate against unfair treatment by the organization.…”