Investigating the Effect of Academicians’ Cyberloafing Behaviors on Job Stress by Generation
Mahmut Demirkıran, Emel EsenThis study aims to examine the effect of academicians’ cyberloafing behaviors on work stress by generation and whether cyberloafing and job stress levels differ with respect to demographic variables and the antecedents of cyberloafing. The study accessed 383 academicians in Türkiye using the convenience sampling method and obtained data using the survey method. The study applied a correlation analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and the Mann-Whitney U test to the obtained data and consequently determined no significant relationship to be present between job stress and cyberloafing. The academicians were seen to exhibit more minor cyberloafing behaviors and to have below-average cyberloafing and job stress levels. The Generation-Y (Millennial) academicians were found to have higher cyberloafing and job stress levels compared to the Generation-X academicians. The study’s use of an academician sample and examination of the generational relationship between cyberloafing and work stress reveals the study’s importance and difference from other studies in the literature.
Akademisyenlerin Sanal Kaytarma Davranışlarının İş Stresine Etkisinin Kuşaklar Üzerinden İncelenmesi
Mahmut Demirkıran, Emel EsenBu araştırmada akademisyenlerin sanal kaytarma davranışlarının iş stresi üzerindeki etkisi kuşaklar üzerinden incelenmiş olup aynı zamanda sanal kaytarma ve iş stresi seviyelerinin demografik değişkenler ve sanal kaytarma öncüllerine göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığının incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Türkiye’de farklı üniversitelerde görev yapmakta olan toplamda 383 akademisyene kolayda örnekleme yoluyla ulaşılmış ve online anket yöntemiyle veriler elde edilmiştir. Elde edilen verilere korelasyon analizi, Kruskal Wallis H ve Mann Whitney U testleri uygulanmıştır. Araştırmada, akademisyenlerin sanal kaytarma davranışları ile iş stresleri arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olmadığı saptanmıştır. Akademisyenlerin önemsiz sanal kaytarma davranışlarını daha fazla sergiledikleri, iş stresi ve sanal kaytarma seviyelerinin ise ortalama değerin altında olduğu görülmüştür. Y kuşağındaki akademisyenlerin, X kuşağındaki akademisyenlere göre sanal kaytarma ve iş stresi düzeylerinin daha yüksek olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada akademisyenlerden oluşan bir örneklemin kullanılması ve sanal kaytarma ile iş stresi arasındaki ilişkinin kuşaklar üzerinden incelenmesi, gerçekleştirilen bu çalışmanın literatürde yer alan diğer çalışmalardan farklılığını ve önemini ortaya koymaktadır.
Technological tools and the Internet’s rapid development have directly affected businesses and employees in the age of technology and information. Employees use technological tools and the Internet extensively during work hours but also exhibit cyberloafing behaviors, which are expressed as using the Internet for purposes outside of work (Blanchard & Henle, 2008). Some studies have stated cyberloafing to reduce work performance and productivity ( Johnson & Indvik, 2003; Bock & Ho, 2009; Ramayah, 2010), while other studies have shown
cyberloafing behaviors to perhaps be essential in reducing the negative effects o job stress (Blanchard & Henle, 2008; Lim & Chen, 2012; Özkalp & Yıldız, 2018). Compared to previous periods in business life, job stress and cyberloafing levels are thought to be able to differ in terms of the different generations of employees that work in the same workplace, the characteristics Generations Y and Z have regarding the Internet and technology, and the characteristics other generations have. Academicians are seen to encounter job stress due to problems such as teaching, academic and administrative work, job insecurity, perceived injustice, and work-life imbalance (Gillespie et al., 2001; Göksel & Tomruk, 2016).
This study aims to examine the effect academicians’ cyberloafing behaviors have on their job stress levels with regard to their generation, the antecedents of cyberloafing (i.e., years spent using the Internet for academic research and study, Internet usage skills, knowledge of the institution’s Internet usage policies, time spent using the Internet during work hours), and whether their cyberloafing and job stress levels differ with respect to demographic variables.
The research accessed 383 academicians working at universities in different cities of Turkey using the convenience sampling method and sent online questionnaires to the academicians’ institutional e-mail addresses in order to reach data quickly and healthily during the pandemic. The questionnaire form addresses cyberloafing antecedents and demographic questions using the Cyberloafing Activities Scale developed by Örücü and Yıldız (2014) and Job Stress Scale developed by House and Rizzo (1972) and adapted into Turkish by Efeoğlu (2006); the questionnaire also asks about birth dates in order to identify the generations. The study uses average variance extractad (AVE), composite construct reliability (CR), Cronbach’s alpha of reliability, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analysis, normality tests, and difference tests to analyze the construct validity and reliability of the data and determined the study to have valid reliable results (standardized factor loading > 0,50; Cronbach’s alpha > 0,70; CR > 0,70; AVE > 0,40). The analyses made over the Cyberloafing Activities Scale and Job Stress Scale show them to have excellent model fit values.
The result of the correlation analysis between the variables revealed no significant relationship between cyberloafing (p = 0,425 > 0,05) and job stress. Academicians are thought to perhaps not evaluate their behaviors as cyberloafing or to have made incorrect evaluations due to the following: the intensity of the pandemic during the data collection process, universities’ implementation of distance education, and the flexibility of work hours. Because cyberloafing is a concept that requires being at work and performing nonwork-related Internet activities during work hours, the regression analysis was concluded to be unnecessary due to the lack of any significant relationship. The data from the Cyberloafing Activities Scale and Job Stress Scale were determined to show nonnormal distribution, and so the decision was made to perform non-parametric tests.
The cyberloafing levels of the academicians who participated in the research are seen to not differ significantly according to gender, years spent using the Internet for academic research and work, Internet usage skills, knowledge of the institution’s Internet usage policies, or type of university worked at. According to the time spent using the Internet except work hours, those who spend less than 2 hours on the Internet except work hours are seen to exhibit the lowest levels of cyberloafing, while those who spend 5-7 hours on the Internet except work hours exhibit the highest levels of cyberloafing. Academicians with social media accounts have higher cyberloafing levels than those with no social media accounts. More academicians are found to consider cyberloafing acceptable compared to those who find it unacceptable. Academicians who do not warn their colleagues who were cyberloafing were found to have higher cyberloafing levels than those who warn their colleagues. Married academicians were found to have higher cyberloafing and job stress levels compared to single academicians and also women to have higher job stress levels than men. Those with the titles of Research Assistant Doctorate are seen to have the highest levels of cyberloafing and job stress, while those with the title of Professor Doctor are seen to have the lowest levels. Those with 6-10 years of work experience are seen to have the highest levels of cyberloafing, while those with 21 years or more of work experience are seen to have the lowest levels of cyberloafing. The Generation Y academicians are seen to be the group with the highest job stress and cyberloafing levels, while the Baby Boomer Generation of academicians are seen to have the lowest levels. The study results draw attention to the need to reevaluate the negative presuppositions about cyberloafing in universities. When analyzed study, it looks that cyberloafing might be a phenomenon that will be encountered more in the digital age and might take into account intergenerational differences.
