Cyberloafing in public sector of developing countries: job embeddedness as a context

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the possible negativity of job embeddedness in developing countries. Operationally, the study aimed to configure the relationship between job embeddedness and cyberloafing with respect to both contextual (job satisfaction) and individual (internet addiction) factors.Design/methodology/approachIncorporating the conservation of resources theory and reactance theory into the theory of job embeddedness, the present study adopted a resource-based approach to job embeddedness to examine its main and moderated effects on cyberloafing in a three-way interaction model. With the focus on public organizations, 500 administrative employees from an Iranian university were surveyed using self-reporting measures, and the collected data were analyzed using partial least squares–structural equation modeling and hierarchical moderated multiple regression.FindingsAs predicted, job embeddedness was positively associated with cyberloafing; however, in contrast with predictions, job satisfaction had no inverse impact on the job embeddedness–cyberloafing relationship, and its role was limited to neutralizing the increasing effect of internet addiction.Practical implicationsConsideration should be given to how job embeddedness interacts with contextual and individual moderators to affect cyberloafing. In particular, this study implicated some practical procedures to provide employees with on- and off-the-job resources and avoid fighting over the organization's resources. Additionally, this study provides insights into embeddedness-satisfaction interplay to provide employees with propitious work conditions in line with organizational productivity.Originality/valueThere is little research on the association between job embeddedness and counterproductive work behaviors, and the findings are inconsistent. A review of the literature revealed no study addressing cyberloafing implications of job embeddedness. This study expands the literature by theoretically and empirically correlating job embeddedness and cyberloafing in a non-western developing country. Accordingly, the significance of this study is its capability in mitigating cyberloafing behaviors by promoting the adverse job embeddedness.

Cyberloafing and cyberslacking in the workplace: systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises

“…The concept of cyberloafing has been examined through multiple theoretical lenses, such as the general theory of crime (Restubog et al, 2011), social learning theory (Khansa et al, 2017), conservation of resources theory (Agarwal and Avey, 2020;Koay et al, 2017;Karimi Mazidi et al, 2020;Zhou et al, 2021) and theory of interpersonal behavior (Betts et al, 2014;Moody and Siponen, 2013). Some scholars have also utilized dual theoretical lenses to examine this behavior.…”

“…According to Vitak et al (2011), there is a differential effect of antecedents like socio-demographic factors, Internet utility and routine Internet use on the jobs that require repetitive actions visa-vis creativity. Studies have determined that cyberloafing is predicted by an employee's organizational commitment (Hensel and Kacprzak, 2020), job embeddedness (Karimi Mazidi et al, 2020;Saghih and Nosrati, 2020) and identification with the job characteristics and stressors (Zhou et al, 2021), such as role conflict (Henle and Blanchard, 2008), job (Hensel and Kacprzak, 2020) or role overload (Varghese and Barber, 2017) and underload (Pindek et al, 2018). For instance, Elrehail et al (2021) found job demands, as well as stress, increased cyberloafing, while job resources and work engagement decreased this behavior.…”

Is job performance conditioned by work-from-home demands and resources?

“…Actually, ICT elements introduced to employees with the aim to facilitate their working process and progress might have an adverse effect in reality and drive them to engage in production-deviant behaviours [ 12 ]. This issue is especially critical in integrating new technological tools and smartphones for work, which has turned into a standard practice for realising personal matters while working [ 13 ].…”

“…These deviant use, especially smartphones during work, with social, informational, leisure or emotional purposes, could even develop into dependences related to the new technologies, further affecting employees’ work progress [ 14 , 15 ]. This situation is expected to arise in workplaces that are considered somewhat unfavourable, such as the case of the currently isolated work-from-home [ 12 , 16 ].…”

Cyberloafing to Escape From the “Devil”: Investigating the Impact of Abusive Supervision From the Third-Party Perspective

“…We used Lim and Teo (2005) 3-item scale to measure cyberloafing of the third party. Participants were asked to report the frequency of their engagement in cyberloafing behaviors using a scale ranging from “1 Never” to “5 Very Frequently.” This scale has been widely used in previous cyberloafing research ( Karimi Mazidi et al, 2021 ). The Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale is 0.916.…”