Job Characteristics and Cyberloafing among IT Professionals: Mediating Role of Work Stress

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between job characteristics in terms of job demands and resources, work stress, and cyberloafing among Polish information technology (IT) professionals. We gathered data in an online self-report survey from 426 IT employees. The results indicated that Polish IT workers engaged in cyberloafing at a moderate level. Likewise, they reported low to moderate level of job demands, higher than average job resources and work stress level as below average. Our findings further demonstrate that job demands and resources relate to cyberloafing directly and via stress-related symptoms. Specifically, job demands (i.e., work pace, quantitative and cognitive demands) and job resources (i.e., influence, justice, and employee mutual trust) were directly related with cyberloafing. Quantitative and cognitive demands, and job resources (i.e., meaning at work and possibilities for development) were related to cyberloafing through stress symptoms. Our study explains potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between specific job characteristics and cyberloafing among IT professionals and contributes to the growing body of research on cyberloafing as a stress coping strategy. The current results suggest that in order to maintain employees’ well-being, human resources managers shall address job characteristics, which may intensify work stress and cyberloafing.