The dark side of digital distraction: supervisor phubbing and employee performance – the indirect roles of cyberloafing and social distance

Purpose Supervisor phubbing occurs when supervisors use their mobile devices during face-to-face interactions with subordinates. Despite the increasing prevalence of smartphones in the workplace and the importance of supervisor–employee interactions, limited research has examined how supervisor phubbing is associated with key employee outcomes. This study examines the relationship between supervisor phubbing and employee performance and estimates two theoretically specified indirect associations, one through employee cyberloafing and the other through perceived social distance. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 965 employees working in Egyptian travel agencies and tour operators. The hypothesized associations were estimated using structural equation modeling. Findings The estimated coefficients linked higher supervisor phubbing with lower employee performance, greater employee cyberloafing and wider perceived social distance. Both proposed mediators yielded statistically significant negative indirect associations; the supervisor phubbing–employee performance coefficient remained significant after their simultaneous inclusion, a pattern consistent with complementary partial mediation in statistical terms. Originality/value This study is among the few to employ social exchange theory to interpret the relationships among supervisor phubbing, employee performance, employee cyberloafing and social distance. It extends the literature by bringing a behavioral response and a relational perception into a single empirical model while providing evidence from the Egyptian tourism industry. The resulting pattern offers theoretical and practical insight into the relationship between supervisory digital distraction and employee performance while underscoring the managerial relevance of attentive communication in service-oriented organizations.