MORAL RATIONALIZATION AND CYBERLOAFING: A CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATION OF NEUTRALIZATION THEORY AND THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

The growing integration of digital technology into organizational life has blurred the boundaries between work and personal activity, giving rise to a persistent phenomenon known as cyberloafing, which describes as employee’s use of the internet for non-work-related purposes during working hours. Although cyberloafing has been examined through behavioural and stress-based frameworks, existing studies often overlook the moral reasoning processes that enable employees to rationalize such deviant acts. This paper addresses this theoretical gap by proposing a conceptual integration of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Neutralization Theory, offering a holistic explanation of moral rationalization in cyberloafing behaviour. Drawing from the TPB, this study explains how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control shape employee’s intentions toward cyberloafing. To extend this model, Neutralization Theory specifically the Metaphor of the Ledger mechanism is introduced to account for how employees justify deviance through moral self-licensing, perceiving prior positive contributions as credits that offset minor behaviour. By integrating these two frameworks, the proposed model elucidates how cognitive justification interacts with attitudinal and normative components to predict digital deviance. The conceptual synthesis contributes to the literature by reframing cyberloafing as a morally rationalized behaviour rather than a purely reactive or opportunistic act. It advances theoretical understanding of workplace deviance in digitally connected contexts and offers practical implications for managers seeking to design ethical, trust-based digital environments. The paper concludes with a series of theoretical propositions and directions for empirical testing across diverse cultural and occupational settings. This integrative perspective lays the groundwork for future research on moral cognition, digital ethics, and behavioural control in the evolving digital workspace.