Abusive supervisors and employees who cyberloaf: Examining the roles of psychological capital and contract breach

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of abusive supervision on cyberloafing behavior, to test the mediating role of PsyCap in this relationship and the extent to which these relationships are moderated by psychological contract breach.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 394 full-time managers across different Indian organizations served as the sample for this study.

Findings

The results revealed that the abusive supervision and PsyCap are significantly correlated with cyberloafing, the relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing is partially mediated by PsyCap and the impact of abusive supervision and PsyCap on cyberloafing is moderated by psychological contract breach such that the effects of abusive supervision and PsyCap on cyberloafing are stronger when employees perceive high psychological contract breach.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaires are a few limitations of this study.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies examining cyberloafing in response to abusive supervision and one of the few attempts to examine the effects of abusive supervision on individual resources (PsyCap) in response to workplace mistreatment. This study is also the first to examine these phenomena in the Indian context.

Citation

Agarwal, U.A. and Avey, J.B. (2020), "Abusive supervisors and employees who cyberloaf: Examining the roles of psychological capital and contract breach", Internet Research, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 789-809. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-05-2019-0208