Personal Internet use at work: Understanding cyberslacking

Cyberslacking, typically defined as the use of Internet and mobile technology during work hours for personal purposes, is a growing concern for organizations due to the potential in lost revenue; however, the majority of academic research in this area has focused on a limited number of cyberslacking behaviors and/or employed small, non-representative samples. In order to address these limitations, the present study employs a nationally representative sample of American workers and tests the relationship between nine cyberslacking behaviors and a variety of demographic and work-specific predictors. Three measures of cyberslacking are employed to provide a richer analysis of the phenomenon: individual behaviors, frequency of cyberslacking, and variety of cyberslacking. Results indicate that being younger, male, and a racial minority positively predict cyberslacking variety and frequency, as do routinized Internet use at work and higher perceived Internet utility. Results are discussed as to how the present study expands on previous research, and directions for future research are indicated.

► We test predictors of cyberslacking variety & frequency for nine behaviors. ► Being young, a racial minority & male positively predicts cyberslacking. ► Media habits positively predict cyberslacking variety & frequency. ► There is significant variance in predictors of individual behaviors.