How and when does techno-invasion lead to cyberslacking and decreased performance? The roles of neutralization and a psychological safety climate

Cyberslacking, or the non–work-related use of information technology during work hours, has emerged as an important concern for organizations and individuals, prompting the need to understand why, how, and when employees engage in this deviant workplace behavior. We develop a research model based on the transactional perspective of stress and neutralization theory and examine whether techno-invasion (i.e., the perception of being “always exposed” due to constant connectivity that blurs the desired work–life boundary) triggers a coping response (i.e., cyberslacking) through the psychological mechanism of neutralization, and whether this response affects performance outcomes (i.e., job performance). We then explore whether a team-level shared belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks (i.e., a psychological safety climate [PSC]) serves as a cross-level boundary condition that reinforces the effect of techno-invasion. Our analysis of the data collected from a three-wave time-lagged survey of 219 employees and their team leaders across 60 work teams provides substantial support for our model. Our findings indicate that employees in teams with a strong PSC are more likely than their counterparts to adopt neutralization techniques and thus engage in cyberslacking when faced with techno-invasion, and that this can negatively affect job performance. This study calls attention to the potential psychological safety risks associated with integrating technology into the workplace. The implications for both research and practice are discussed.