Intention as a mediator between attitudes, subjective norms, and cyberloafing among preservice teachers of english

Abstract

Learning and teaching is fostered to a great deal by technology. Cell phones and internet can be utilized as effective tools in providing extended and diversified learning opportunities as well as promoters of learning and teaching. However, early internet-enabled cell phones or more recent smartphones have also become easily accessible avenues of distraction and escape. This study explored if and how intention to cyberloaf acts as a mediator in the relationship between attitudes, subjective norms, and cyberloafing with a focus on descriptive and prescriptive norms with respect to instructors and classmates separately. The research was undertaken at a foundation university in Ankara, Turkey with 214 preservice English teachers. The sample consisted of 152 (71.03%) females and 62 (28.97%) males. Cyberloafing scale developed by Kalaycı (2010), adapted versions of Askew et al.’s (2014) attitudes towards cyberloafing scale, subjective descriptive norms scale, cyberloafing intentions scale, and Blanchard and Henle’s (2008) norms scale were used as data collection instruments. Mediation analyses were performed using SPSS 22 with the utilization of SPSS macro, PROCESS v 3.4 (Hayes, 2017). The results of the regression analyses indicated that subjective norms and attitudes significantly predicted cyberloafing; and intentions to cyberloaf was found to be a significant but partial mediator between the variables. The results have significant implications both for academic research on cyberloafing and for educational practices.