Rethinking the ethical role in cyberloafing behavior: Organizational culture, interpersonal Justice, and compassion

Abstract

Prior research has shown that ethical values can constrain cyberloafing. However, the behavior has traditionally been studied as an instrumental act, commonly framed as counterproductive or as a stress-relief mechanism rather than as one guided by moral considerations. This study investigates whether cyberloafing is morally motivated or remains primarily instrumental, by examining whether organizational culture influences employees' behavior through interpersonal justice (IJ) and compassion. Using data from 300 employees across 100 banks in London, we assess whether Cameron and Quinn's (1999) clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy cultures foster IJ and compassion, and whether these ethical values, in turn, mediate cyberloafing behavior. Results show that only IJ partially mediates the relationship between adhocracy culture and cyberloafing. Clan, market, and hierarchy cultures showed no significant indirect effects via IJ or compassion. These findings suggest that cyberloafing is not shaped by moral mechanisms, as the ethical conditions required for such mediation appear limited in practice. Our study therefore reinforces the view of cyberloafing as an instrumental act, not contingent on ethical values, and challenges the idea that the behavior is meaningfully driven by moral considerations. From a practical perspective, these results imply that cyberloafing is best managed by addressing the workplace conditions that make it functionally appealing-rather than by attempting to elicit moral values at work, and challenges the idea that the behavior is meaningfully driven by moral considerations.