Examining the links between attachment, perfectionism, and job motivation potential with job engagement and workaholism

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the associations between attachment styles, perfectionism, and job motivational potential with job engagement and workaholism. A self-report questionnaire that included psychometrically-sound measures of the key constructs was completed by a sample of 139 employees. Correlation analyses, a hierarchical regression, and a structural equation model were conducted to test the proposed relations and mediating hypotheses. Adaptive perfectionism was found to be related to job engagement, whereas maladaptive perfectionism emerged associated to both safe- and non-safe attachment styles. Moreover, only one attachment style (non-safe) and one type of perfectionism (maladaptive) were found to be linked to workaholism. Managers should pay attention to employees characterized by a non-safe attachment style and perfectionist personalities. Efforts should be made to improve job engagement among employees and to enhance constructive workaholism.