Investigating the Relationship between Mindfulness and Cyber Loafing: The Mediating Effect of Cognitive Appraisal at Workplace
Laiba Chudhary, Nausheen Syed, Sahar Khadim, Maria Safdar, Vaneeza Syed
International Journal of Emerging Multidisciplinaries Social Science October 31, 2026 DOI: 10.54938/ijemd-ss.2026.05.6.878 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 250 |
| Population | Individuals employed in the retail industry of Pakistan |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness was reported to have a strong negative association with cyberloafing behavior, and cognitive appraisal in terms of perceived challenges and threats partly mediated this relationship. The authors argue that mindfulness functions as a psychological factor in employees' self-regulation of cyberloafing. |
Abstract
The research question explored in this study is how mindfulness is linked to cyberloafing behavior at work under the mediating role of cognitive appraisal. Based on self-regulation theory and cognitive appraisal theory, the study seeks to comprehend the role of mindfulness as a psychological attributor in employee engagement of cyberloafing behaviour (i.e., non-work-related internet browsing during working hours). The cross-sectional survey design was used, and the data were obtained from individuals employed in the retail industry of Pakistan (N= 250). SPSS and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results showed that mindfulness has a great adverse effect on cyberloafing behavior. Also, this relationship is partly mediated by cognitive appraisal in terms of perceived challenges and threats. This research paper adds to the literature on growing body of work on workplace behavior by identifying the psychological processes that interrelate mindfulness with self-regulatory consequences.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |