A study examining the relationship between workaholism in the workplace and work outcomes

Abstract

Workaholism has been studied for over fifty years, this study focuses on the job crafting behaviors as a mediator between workaholism and its outcomes. These outcomes include exhaustion as the most frequent symptom of being overly concerned about work. The two other outcomes are career satisfaction and work-life balance. We also controlled for variables including autonomy, support and job demands. 96 participants filled out a questionnaire including items such as the DUWAS, SWING, Career Satisfaction Survey, Job Content Questionnaire, Job Crafting Scale, and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. The data was analysed through multiple linear regressions on SPSS. The results showed that workaholism is positively related to exhaustion and work-life conflict. Furthermore, support was an important predictor of work-life conflict and exhaustion. The process analyses also demonstrated that there are strong relationships between the control variables and job crafting. However, none of the job crafting behaviors were shown to be significant to the outcomes, except the social resources job crafting behaviors. This study showed the importance of job crafting and more specifically, social resources at work to decrease negative outcomes. Organizations should focus on social support for their employees, teach them how and allow them to craft their jobs.