An Individual Trait-based Investigation of Employee Cyberloafing

Limited attention in IS research has been paid to the phenomenon of cyberloafing, i.e., employee nonwork-related Internet use during work time. This study takes an individual trait approach and investigates the impact of personality traits, including both general and domain-specific ones, on cyberloafing. More specifically, it was hypothesized that while general traits, like the “Big Five,” will be significant predictors of cyberloafing, domain-specific traits, such as computer playfulness, will have more superior explanatory power and explain incremental variance beyond the Big Five. Also explored was the conceptual foundation of computer playfulness in the Big Five trait framework, particularly its relationship with openness to experience. Survey data from a sample of working adults were used to explore these relationships. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.