What Drives Cyberloafing Among Indian IT Professionals? An ISM and MICMAC Investigation


Nivedita Jha, Violeta Cvetkoska, Pooja Malik, Gokulananda Patel




In an era where work and workplaces are increasingly digitized, the pervasive phenomenon of cyberloafing—diverting work hours to non-job-related online activities—poses a growing challenge. This study delves into the underlying factors of cyberloafing identified in the literature and examines the interrelationships among them. By categorizing these factors, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of cyberloafing. Data were gathered through interviews with 15 IT experts and 3 academic professionals and analyzed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) analysis. The findings highlight organizational culture, job demand-resource (JDR), leadership styles, and perceived overqualification (POQ) as primary drivers of cyberloafing. This research enhances our understanding of cyberloafing and proposes targeted measures to mitigate its impact, emphasizing the need for organizations, particularly within the dynamic Indian IT sector, to address this issue proactively.