Explore the Factors influencing Cyber Loafing Behaviours among Undergraduates of State Universities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

With the evolution of technology, laptops, tablets, and smartphones have become an important part of educational settings. As a result, it has become a prominent concept among undergraduates students' in-class use of the Internet for personal reasons; this concept is called cyberloafing. This study mainly focused on exploring the factors that influence cyberloafing behaviour among undergraduates of state universities in Sri Lanka. Empirically, the researcher aims to discover the impact of accessibility of the Internet, students’ personal attitudes, and academic stress on cyberloafing behaviour. A quantitative approach was used, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The researcher used the convenience sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 384 undergraduates from different state universities in Sri Lanka. This study employed statistical analysis methods to examine the impact of the considered factors on cyberloafing behaviour. The results indicated that Internet accessibility, students’ personal attitudes, and academic stress were positively associated with cyberloafing behaviour among undergraduates. The research findings demonstrated that when students have easy access to the Internet, have more positive attitudes towards cyberloafing, and experience high academic stress due to heavy workloads and exam pressure, they tend to engage more in non-academic-related activities using the Internet during learning time. The findings of this study may contribute to understanding the root causes that lead to cyberloafing among undergraduates in state universities in Sri Lanka.