The impact of cyberloafing and physical exercise on performance: a quasi-experimental study on the consonant and dissonant effects of breaks at work

Abstract

This study aims to examine the consonant and dissonant effects that cyberloafing and physical exercise may have on individuals' performance as activities of occupying rest breaks at work.Built upon an innovative perspective, a laboratory quasi-experimental study was developed where a total of 124 participants performed two different tasks -a cognitive task measuring errors and omissions and a motor task. Their performance was evaluated after a cyberloafing or physical exercise break. Aligned with the cognitive dissonance theory, results revealed that physical exercise breaks had a positive effect on motor performance. Conscientiousness and engagement also presented a medium effect size, suggesting a trend to moderate the impact of cyberloafing breaks on cognitive performance. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations of the study and areas for future research were also explored.

Does cyberloafing and person‐organization fit affect employee performance? The mediating role of innovative work behavior

“…Santos et al. (2020) assume that the positive or negative impact of cyberloafing breaks on performance may depend on the characteristics of the tasks.…”

“…Based on the findings of statistical analysis, it is known that innovative work behavior mediates the positive influence of the relationship between cyberloafing and employee performance. Several research results and opinions from previous research suggest that cyberloafing in the workplace is generally a pleasure activity that makes employees happy and less stressed (Greengard, 2000), so it tends to have a positive impact on work performance (Lim & Chen, 2012); or even cyberloafing is also considered bad activity and behavior in the workplace, so that it has a negative impact on individual performance (Karim et al., 2019; Santos et al., 2020). However, our results are in the opposite direction, cyberloafing activities and behavior are proven to have no effect on the performance of banking sector employees, but when it is linked to the context of individual innovation behavior; it tends to increase the work employee's performance of banking sector.…”

“…Blanchard and Henle (2008) explained that cyberloafing has no effect on performance because each individual employee has different tasks for the work they must complete individually. Santos et al (2020) assume that the positive or negative impact of cyberloafing breaks on performance may depend on the characteristics of the tasks. These findings confirm the results of previous studies conducted by Derin and Gökçe (2016) and Wijanarko and Purba (2018), where the results of these studies indicate that cyberloafing has a positive effect on innovative work behavior.…”

“…Vitak et al (2011) explained that cyberloafing can reduce task performance based on wasted work time, based on the results of this study, cyberloafing has a negative effect on task performance for employees. Santos et al (2020) in his research explains that cyberloafing has a negative effect on employees and affects employee performance such as reducing work quality, making work slower because cyberloafing activities are hampered, and can make employees make mistakes while working because they lose concentration. In sum, although employees may argue that surfing the web may help them feel happier, energized and less stress; cyberloafing behavior is time-consuming and a distraction from work, leading to a decrease in performance and in organizations' overall productivity (Santos et al, 2020).…”

“…Cyberloafing can be considered a constructive behavior (Derin & Gökçe, 2016; Wijanarko & Purba, 2018; Yogun, 2015), creating a positive impact on employee performance. However, concurrently, cyberloafing's potential for causing decreases in employee productivity (Andreassen et al., 2014), efficiency (Farivar & Richardson, 2021; Khansa et al., 2018), and employee performance (Ahmad et al., 2019; Olajide et al., 2018; Santos et al., 2020), is also discussed, implying that cyberloafing has a negative impact on employee performance.…”