Problematic Social Media Use and Employee Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review

A systematic literature review was conducted to summarize research that examined the association between problematic social media use (PSMU) and employee work-related and psychological outcomes. Following rigorous protocols, 42 peer-reviewed studies published from 2013 to 2022 were identified from the Web of Science, Elsevier, and PubMed databases, which were used to analyze and evaluate the current research boundary, explore the accumulated knowledge, and propose approaches to further enrich this research area. The findings of this review revealed that the current research mainly focuses on four research themes (a) focal areas of effects, (b) divergence of effects, (c) contextual specificity, and (d) investigated variables. However, the existing knowledge on this domain is still limited in understanding the conceptualization of PSMU, along with the narrow focus on methodological, geographical focus, and objective measures. This study contributes to theory, as it is one of the few reviews that link PSMU to employee outcomes, building an integrated framework to outline future research trends. Purpose - Research examining the association between problematic social media use (PSMU) and employee outcomes is increasingly prominent, with a growing number of studies exploring this phenomenon. Despite the increased academic interest, no attempts have been made to synthesize extant knowledge of this domain. There is a limited holistic understanding of the association between PSMU and employee outcomes. To address this gap, an exhaustive systematic literature review on the association between PSMU and employee outcomes is presented. Design/methodology/approach - Systematic review analysis method used to analyze and synthesize insights from 42 empirical studies obtained from three academic databases: Web of Science, PubMed, and Elsevier. Findings - Significant diversity in prior research on the association between PSMU and employee outcomes was encapsulated in four themes. There are significant limitations in the conceptualization of PSMU, along with a narrow focus on geographic, methodological, and contextual foci of prior studies. The authors propose an integrated framework to aid future research directions. Originality/value - This systematic literature review has significant implications for psychologists and managers who consider facilitating the reasonable use of social media, particularly in organizations