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Workaholism and health Implications for organizations

Workaholism and health Implications for organizations It is generally believed that workaholics tend to deny the existence of fatigue and push themselves beyond reason before physical complaints stop them working and lead them to seek help. However, while self‐neglect is believed to be a hallmark of workaholism, empirical data are both scant and contradictory. This study explores whether workaholics experience poorer health status than other (non‐workaholic) employees. Two groups of respondents (46 workaholics, 42 non‐workaholics) completed the workaholism battery‐revised and the rand SF‐36 at two measurement points across six months. While workaholics reported slightly poorer social functioning, role functioning and more frequent pain, they reported similar vitality, general health and psychological health to non‐workaholics. Importantly, differences between groups were small and failed to reach statistical significance. Given the substantial body of data supporting the SF‐36 and the present six‐month replication, it appears that workaholism may be less toxic to personal health and well‐being than at first thought. Implications for organisational and human resource management, including equal employment opportunities for workaholics, are discussed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Organizational Change Management Emerald Publishing

Workaholism and health Implications for organizations

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References (30)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0953-4814
DOI
10.1108/09534810410554515
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

It is generally believed that workaholics tend to deny the existence of fatigue and push themselves beyond reason before physical complaints stop them working and lead them to seek help. However, while self‐neglect is believed to be a hallmark of workaholism, empirical data are both scant and contradictory. This study explores whether workaholics experience poorer health status than other (non‐workaholic) employees. Two groups of respondents (46 workaholics, 42 non‐workaholics) completed the workaholism battery‐revised and the rand SF‐36 at two measurement points across six months. While workaholics reported slightly poorer social functioning, role functioning and more frequent pain, they reported similar vitality, general health and psychological health to non‐workaholics. Importantly, differences between groups were small and failed to reach statistical significance. Given the substantial body of data supporting the SF‐36 and the present six‐month replication, it appears that workaholism may be less toxic to personal health and well‐being than at first thought. Implications for organisational and human resource management, including equal employment opportunities for workaholics, are discussed.

Journal

Journal of Organizational Change Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Oct 1, 2004

Keywords: Workaholism; Psychological tests; Equality

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