Given that Singapore is positioned as a well-connected infocomm hub, and that almost every white-collar employee works on a computer, Professor Vivien Lim and her student, Don Chen were interested to find out if cyberloafing has any positive effect on work.

Cyberloafing occurs when an employee voluntarily uses his/her company's Internet access for non-work-related personal purposes during working hours. This includes Web browsing and emailing activities.

Past research has shown that although there were cost and productivity losses associated with cyberloafing, it nonetheless serves as a coping strategy against negative workplace experiences such as stress and burnout. Research has also shown that a positive state of mind towards work is associated with higher job satisfaction, commitment to the workplace and reduced intention to quit.

To find out whether different types of cyberloafing activities (browsing vs email) have different impact on work, Prof Lim surveyed 191 working professionals, of whom 34% were men. The average age was 38, with 4.5 years of working experience.

The Findings

  Browsing activities were associated with positive emotions.
Visiting non-work-related Web sites provides a temporary escape from work, allowing employees to feel energized and recharged.

  Such positive emotions are associated with more work facilitation and less work depletion.
Occasional browsing during work hours may help employees by providing much-needed respite from work stress. It helps employees reconcile the demands of work and personal life, allowing them to attend to personal matters without having to leave their workplace physically. Work facilitation also comes from enhancements in self-esteem and confidence, as a result of Web browsing.

Emailing activities were associated with negative emotions.
Emailing activities require more time and effort. Also, unlike browsing activities, employees have less control over email messages, which tend to be less predictable, and often require immediate attention and more time to craft.

  Such negative emotions are associated with more work depletion and less work facilitation.
Given the relatively more demanding nature of emailing vis-à-vis browsing, emailing activities tend to be associated with more disruptive behaviour. Work depletion results from employees being conflicted on how they should split their time and effort.

  Work facilitation results in more positive, fulfilling state of mind towards work, while work depletion results in less mental resources devoted to work.
When employees have higher self-esteem, they are more dedicated and attentive to work. In contrast, when employees are conflicted and feel less confident, they tend to become less productive at work.