Abstract

Time theft, defined as employee engagement in non-work-related activities during work hours, imposes significant organizational costs; however, its underlying causes remain largely underexplored. This study addresses this theoretical gap by examining the combined influence of Dark Triad personality traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) and key situational factors (general loneliness, social media addiction, and workplace boredom) on three distinct dimensions of time theft: classic, technological, and social.

The analysis, based on survey data from 264 private and public sector employees in Sakarya, Turkey, revealed that psychopathy and Machiavellianism initially correlated strongly with classic and technological time theft. Nevertheless, their predictive ability was significantly attenuated when situational variables were introduced into the full regression model. Specifically, workplace boredom and social media addiction emerged as robust predictors, exerting a dominant influence over the Dark Triad traits. Neither narcissism, general loneliness, nor standard demographic variables demonstrated a significant relationship with any dimension of time theft. The paper concludes by discussing the conceptual implications of these findings within Turkey's traditional collectivist culture and proposing avenues for future research and practical intervention strategies.

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