Doomscrolling as Occupational Hazard: A Conceptual Framework Linking Digital Distraction to Safety Performance in Manufacturing

Abstract

Doomscrolling as the compulsive, self-reinforcing consumption of negative online news – has emerged as a documented occupational behaviour with measurable consequences for employee psychological well-being and work engagement. Despite growing empirical attention, there is a lack of studies examining doomscrolling in manufacturing environments, where attentional failures carry direct and potentially irreversible safety consequences. This paper addresses that gap through a systematic literature review conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, retaining sixteen studies spanning multiple countries for synthesis. Evidence is organised into three streams. The first establishes theoretical and contextual foundations of doomscrolling as an affect-driven subtype of cyberloafing shaped by algorithmic amplification and developmental factors. The second synthesises empirical evidence on psychological effects among working adults: across four independent samples, doomscrolling consistently predicted rumination, psychological distress, existential anxiety, and reduced work engagement, with a weighted effect size of d = 0.88 for the distress–anxiety pathway – a large effect appears notably larger than effect sizes commonly reported for general internet use at work, though direct comparison is constrained by construct heterogeneity. The third draws on bridge evidence from industrial settings linking problematic internet use and deviant cyberloafing to diminished safety behaviour in mining and healthcare contexts. A conceptual model integrating these pathways through Conservation of Resources Theory is proposed, identifying three parallel depletion mechanisms – rumination, attentional depletion, and psychological distress – that translate doomscrolling into reduced safety compliance, elevated human error, and productivity loss. Four empirical propositions are advanced to guide future research in manufacturing contexts.