A loose hat on the organization’s head: cyberloafing among knowledge workers embedded in non-knowledge-intensive organizations

Purpose Knowledge workers thrive in environments that match the intensity of their expertise. When assigned to non-knowledge-intensive roles, these individuals may exhibit counterproductive behaviors, such as cyberloafing. This research investigates job embeddedness as a contextual factor shaped by workplace alignment, integrating the theory of interpersonal behavior (TIB) with job embeddedness theory (JET) to develop a unified conceptual framework. The primary objective is to examine how embedded knowledge workers respond behaviorally when employed in organizations perceived as misaligned with their professional standards. Design/methodology/approach A multi-wave longitudinal investigation was conducted with 414 public-sector knowledge workers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical moderated multiple regression (HMMR) were employed to test the research model. Findings The results indicate that among embedded knowledge workers, person–job and person–organization misfits predict cyberloafing via sequential mediators. Additionally, moral justification significantly moderated the link between intention to cyberloaf and actual behavior. Findings suggest that knowledge workers unable to exit low-alignment environments may adopt cyberloafing as a self-regulatory coping mechanism to preserve identity coherence. Originality/value Like a loose hat ill-suited to its wearer, the current research illuminates how embedded knowledge workers in non-knowledge-intensive organizations (NKIOs) experience misfits that drive cyberloafing. Combining TIB and JET to explore sequential mediation mechanisms and a boundary condition, this investigation empirically reframes cyberloafing, exposing a hidden cost of poor fit.