Cyberloafing in Response to Employee Anger toward the Organization: The Role of Cognitive, Structural, and Identity Drivers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ahmadreza Karimi Mazidi ¹

Marziehsadat Alavinejad ²

Mostafa Pourali Malabad ³

¹ Department of Industrial Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran

² Department of Management and Economics, Sabzevar branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Iran

³ Department of Industrial Management, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/tmj.2025.94548.1734

Abstract

With the rising prevalence of perceived overqualification in both domestic and international labor markets, employees’ psychological and behavioral responses to this phenomenon have gained increasing significance. This study aims to elucidate the psychological mechanisms underlying cyberloafing among overqualified employees facing job overload, focusing on the mediating role of anger toward the organization and the moderating role of organizational identification. To this end, the theories of equity, organizational justice, and social identity are synthesized into a unified theoretical framework. In terms of purpose, this research is an applied study, and methodologically, it adopts a descriptive-explanatory design. Data were collected through a survey using a structured questionnaire that comprised pre-validated measurement scales, which were reassessed for reliability and validity ahead of use. The statistical population consisted of 1,400 employees from Bank Saderat Iran branches in Mashhad, of whom 390 were selected through convenience sampling. Covariance-based structural equation modeling and hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis were the primary statistical techniques employed to test the research hypotheses, implemented using AMOS and SPSS software, respectively. The results indicated that anger toward the organization partially mediated the association of perceived overqualification and job overload with cyberloafing. Moreover, while organizational identification did not moderate the relationship between overqualification and anger, it significantly attenuated the relationship between job overload and anger. These findings offer valuable insights into the fundamental differences between overqualification and job overload, particularly regarding their contextual drivers, and provide strategies for addressing them to improve workplace conditions and mitigate cyberloafing behaviors.

Keywords

Cyberloafing

Anger

Overqualification

Overload

Identification

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