UCL School of Management is delighted to welcome,Ji Yueting, School of Labor and Human Resources Renmin University of China,to host a research seminar discussing ‘evening cyber leisure,sleep and work‘

Abstract

We propose a dual-path model based on the recovery perspective, in order to discuss the paradoxical effects of employees’ evening cyber leisure on their work. We measure the effects against the following day’s work outcomes, namely, psychological vitality, performance, and cyberloafing. Specifically, we argue the paradoxical effects result from the contradicting impact of evening cyber leisure on global sleep quality, which links employees’ evening life and next-day work outcomes together. Through disentangling the impacts on global sleep quality, we first reiterate the concern about the problem of poor sleep hygiene—bedtime procrastination caused by the evening usage of cyber devices. Meanwhile, we discover the advantage of using cyber devices in enhancing employees’ global sleep quality and in presenting an alternative of psychological detachment from work. Further, we propose that employees with higher levels of trait mindfulness can better manage their evening usage of cyber devices for leisure. Data collected from 10-day daily reports of 161 R&D employees of a bio-tech company support the proposed model. Finally, we discuss the implications of assisting employees in managing their sleep and work cycles in these cyber times.