Affiliations: [a] School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
| [b] Research Institute of Decision and Behavior Science, School of Business, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, P.R. China
| [c] Department of Economics and Business, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
| [d] School of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, P.R. China
| [e] School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, P.R. China
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Jinnan Wu, Professor, Research Institute of Decision and Behavior Science, School of Business, Anhui University of Technology, Eastern District New Town, Ma’anshan, 243032, Anhui, P.R. China. E-mail: jinnanwu@ahut.edu.cn.
Note: [1] All authors contributed equally to the manuscript and share the first authorship.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Previous research has demonstrated that the personal use of social media, i.e., social cyberloafing, is associated with employee mental health. However, the underlying mechanism through which social cyberloafing is related to mental health has received limited attention. OBJECTIVE:Drawing on conservation of resource theory and work/nonwork enhancement literatures, we developed and tested a model that examines health effect of social cyberloafing. As such, employees’ social cyberloafing is posited as positively related to psychological detachment and personal life enhancement of work, which in turn would act as mediators that explain why social cyberloafing improves mental health. METHODS:Data from 375 Chinese employees were analyzed to test research hypotheses using the structural equation modeling and bias-corrected bootstrap method with Mplus 7.4. RESULTS:The results found that social cyberloafing is positively related to psychological detachment, but not with personal life enhancement of work. Social cyberloafing was positively related to employees’ mental health through both psychological detachment and through psychological detachment and personal life enhancement of work serially. CONCLUSION:Psychological detachment alone and alongside personal life enhancement of work form part of the mechanisms explaining how and why engaging in social cyberloafing is positively associated with employees’ mental health. These mechanisms offer insights to organizations into how the mental health of employees can be improved in the digital workplace.
Keywords: Social media, public health, social interaction, professional-family relations, China
