Scrolling for Success? The Impact of Social Media Microbreaks on Perceived Work Productivity and Psychological Detachment from Work

Abstract: Completing tasks and reaching goals at work depletes employees’ energy, motivation, and attentional resources, resulting in negative stress and fatigue experiences. Taking microbreaks from work may help recover from work demands and replenish these resources by positively affecting employee well-being and performance. Therefore, this study seeks to understand the potential benefits of personal social media use as a specific microbreak activity that has become increasingly popular in recent years for employee recovery and productivity during working hours. More specifically, the engagement in social media microbreaks (SMMB) was hypothesized to positively predict both employees’ psychological detachment and perceived productivity. Cross-sectional survey data from 193 white-collar workers were collected and analyzed using linear regression. The results of this correlational study revealed that while engagement in SMMB activities positively predicted psychological detachment, perceived productivity was not found to be associated with SMMBs when holding employees’ general engagement in social media and socially desirable responding constant. Exploratory analyses showed that these relationships may be contingent on demographic, individual, and work (break) characteristics. These findings challenge the predominant negative connotation of using social media at work among employers and by contributing to a growing body of evidence suggesting the restorative nature of microbreaks. Yet, this research underlines the necessity for further research to elucidate the boundary conditions for effective (social media) microbreaks.