Workaholism or Workload Overload Flashcards
On January 1 2017, French laws came into effect to protect workers from having to attend to
emails out of hours
The term ‘workaholism’ first appeared in the literature in the
1970s
much of what has been written on the topic has not conceptualised workaholism as a
behavioural addiction
Scott, Moore and Miceli (1997) define workaholism as consisting of three core elements:
a) A great deal of time spent on work activities;
b) Preoccupation with work, even when the individual is not working; and
c) Working beyond what is reasonably expected of the individual to meet their job requirements.
Other researchers have suggested that workaholism also includes
spending longer hours at work due to internal compulsion rather than external factors (Ng, Sorensen & Feldman, 2007) and a psychological inability to detach from work (Taris et al., 2008).
While some researchers propose that the number of hours worked is a key indicator of workaholism (e.g., Taris et al., 2008), Griffiths (2011) argues that
this is not a core feature of this form of addiction
Other behaviours thought to typify workaholism include
job involvement/commitment, job stress, perfectionism, and difficulty delegating
Schaufeli et al. (2006) proposed that workaholics
are actually unhappy obsessives who have low job performance
Another view is that work addiction provides a socially accepted avenue for people to
neglect other elements of their life (Persaud, 2004) or avoid thinking about their personal and emotional life (Robinson, 2000).
Griffiths (2011) concluded that workaholism is higher amongst
professionals, and particularly professionals in the field of medicine
A large Dutch survey study (n = 9,160) found high average scores of workaholism within
agricultural, construction, communication and consultancy workers, people working in commerce and trade, and managers and higher professionals (Taris, Van Beek, & Schaufeli, 2012)
agricultural, construction, communication and consultancy workers, people working in commerce and trade, and managers and higher professionals (Taris, Van Beek, & Schaufeli, 2012)
high levels of job stress due to the demands they place upon themselves
Workaholism has also been linked to poorer relationships with
work colleagues and increased competitiveness at work
The findings regarding workaholism and job satisfaction and career progression are
mixed (Clark et al., 2014).
There is also evidence to suggest workaholism is associated with high levels of
burnout, particularly the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and depersonalisation (Clark et al., 2014).