From Classroom to Workplace: Cyberloafing among Accounting Students in Both Settings

Objective: this study sought to compare cyberloafing during classes with that practiced in the workplace by accounting students. In addition, we analyzed the motivations behind these behaviors. Theoretical approach: the compensatory internet use theory explains cyberloafing as a coping strategy for real-life frustrations. Therefore, students and workers may engage in cyberloafing for reasons both inside and outside the classroom and workplace. Method: we collected data from 245 accounting students from multiple educational institutions in Brazil regarding the motivations for engaging in cyberloafing in organizational and academic contexts and the frequency of these behaviors in each setting. We employed descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon test, exploratory factor analyses, and multiple linear regressions to examine the relationship between motivations and the various forms of cyberloafing. Results: the results indicate that students access social media in class more often than at work, where access to emails, news, and music predominates. In both contexts, we identified three factors for cyberloafing related to the search for information online, the consumption of goods and media, and access to social networks and communication applications; three factors for academic motivations; and two for organizational motivations, linked to dissatisfaction, disregard, norms, and the need for interpersonal interaction. Conclusion: in general, the behaviors are more related to psychosocial factors than to socio-demographic variables such as gender and age.