Workaholism among South African professionals: family competence and wellbeing

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Individuals working to excess are often described as workaholics or work addicts. These are people who are said to choose to neglect other life interests in favour of work. Recent studies indicate that workaholism may have a negative effect on employee health and wellbeing (Vodanovich & Piotrowski, 2006). Workaholics have been found to report more physical and psychological health problems as well as difficulty in maintaining healthy relationships outside their jobs. Given the problems presented by workaholism, this study will examine the effects of workaholism on the health and family functioning of South African professionals and managers and whether this relationship is moderated by job control. Data was collected through the use of self-report questionnaires and included a sample of 80 professionals and managers. Spearmans correlations and two-way Anovas were used to statistically analyse the data. Results indicate that only a small percentage of managers and professionals in South Africa appear to be workaholics and that there is no relationship between workaholism and general health, or workaholism and family competence. Although, drive, a component of workaholism appears to have a positive impact on general health.