Grounded in the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) model and personality traits theory, this study investigates how social media addiction and social isolation, in interaction with introversion, influence cyberslacking behaviors in the workplace. Despite the growing body of research, prior studies have not adequately addressed the joint influence of these psychological and dispositional factors on cyberslacking.

Utilizing the purposive sampling technique, 285 data were collected to investigate employee engagement in cyberslacking. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and the bootstrapping method to assess the significance of hypotheses. This approach enabled a comprehensive exploration of the interplays between social media addiction, social isolation and cyberslacking tendencies among employees, highlighting the moderating effect of introversion.

The study reported a significant relationship between social media addiction and cyberslacking among employees. Social isolation was also found to play a significant role in influencing cyberslacking behaviors. Furthermore, social isolation was positively related to social media addiction, highlighting its compensatory function for lacking face-to-face communication. Intriguingly, introversion significantly moderated the relationships between social isolation, social media addiction and cyberslacking, emphasizing its role in shaping workplace behaviors in remote work settings. However, introversion did not moderate the relationship between social media addiction and cyberslacking.

The findings suggest that organizations should consider employee personality traits, particularly introversion, when designing remote work policies. Addressing social isolation through structured communication strategies and monitoring social media engagement can help mitigate cyberslacking and promote healthier digital habits at work.

This study explores the complex interplay of social isolation, social media addiction and cyberslacking. Additionally, it contributes to the knowledge body by thoroughly investigating how introversion moderates these relationships within a comprehensive research model.