Cyberloafing as a Way of Coping with Emotional Stress

Cyberloafing or “cyber laziness” is a phenomenon that became widespread with the advent of the Internet and includes a variety of online activities unrelated to work or study. Recently, cyberloafing has been considered as a way of coping with stress, but empirical evidence supporting this assumption is scarce. The present study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and the use of cyberloafing as a way of coping with stress. A total of 167 individuals participated in the study. Using the correlation analysis method, correlations were found such as: people with low conscientiousness tend to spend more time cyberloafing in stressful situations; openness to experience is positively related to the use of cyberloafing for “Information Seeking” and the coping strategy “Problem Solving”; etc. The results of the study expand the understanding of cyberlofing as a way of coping with stress, confirming that personality traits play an important role in how people use the Internet in stressful situations.