Cyberloafing at work: the effects of abusive supervision and emotional exhaustion

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of abusive supervision on cyberloafing at work, mediated by emotional exhaustion and moderated by facilitating conditions, drawing on social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory. Design/methodology/approach A total of 352 samples were gathered from employees in Vietnamese IT companies through a structured questionnaire. The collected data were examined using partial least squares–structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, and the process module created by SmartPLS4 was used to assess the conditional indirect effect. Findings This paper showed that abusive supervision positively affected cyberloafing at work, with emotional exhaustion fully mediating this relationship. In addition, the results indicated that facilitating conditions moderated the indirect effect of abusive supervision on online surfing behavior through emotional exhaustion, making the positive indirect effect more significant in environments with supportive facilitating conditions. Originality/value This paper makes a significant contribution to academic research by clarifying the link between abusive supervision and cyberloafing. It argues that abusive supervision functions as a form of mental abuse, leading to prolonged negative emotions and emotional exhaustion among employees. This emotional exhaustion then encourages employees to surf the Internet as a way to cope with stress and pressure. The study demonstrates a fully mediated relationship among these three factors. In addition, this research emphasizes the conditional indirect effect of facilitating conditions on the relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing during work hours through emotional exhaustion.