Workaholism: Taking stock and looking forward

Abstract

Drawing on 50 years of research, this article defines workaholism as involving high motivation (e.g., being driven to work due to internal pressures) as well as high effort expenditure (e.g., having persistent thoughts about work when not working and working beyond what can reasonably be expected). Workaholism can be distinguished from concepts such as work engagement, work passion, and Type-A behavior, and valid workaholism measures are available. Regarding its antecedents, demographic and personality factors are weakly related to workaholism. Work-related factors (such as the presence of an overwork culture and high job demands) are more important. Workaholism may have adverse outcomes for a worker's mental and physical health, well-being, and family life. Workaholics do not perform better (but may well perform worse) than others. Although many interventions have been put forward to address workaholism, the effects of these are usually unclear. We conclude with a short agenda for future research.