It's Been a Hard Day's Night and I've Been Working Like a Dog: Workaholism and Work Engagement in the JD-R Model.

Benedicte Langseth-Eide

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01444

Abstract

The study investigates if the job-demands resources (JD-R) model could be improved by including workaholism in its health impairment process. Salient predictors and antecedents of workaholism and work engagement are identified in a sample of 12170 employees at Norwegian universities and university colleges. Structural equation modeling suggested that job demands and job resources relate to workaholism and work engagement, respectively. The results also revealed that both workaholics and work-engaged employees put in more hours at work than was expected of them. We found that workaholism was negatively related to work-related health, whereas work engagement was positively related to work-related health. These findings support the notion of workaholism and work engagement as two different forms of working hard. Finally, we tested the buffer hypothesis that job resources would moderate the effect of job demands on workaholism. The moderations were in the expected direction, but effect sizes were weaker than those typically reported in previous investigations. In conclusion, the present study supports the expansion of including workaholism in the JD-R model.

Highlights

The unprecedented advancements in digitalization, automatization, robotization, and globalization over the past decades have impacted every line of businesses and shortened the life cycle of job content
In our investigation of the role of workaholism in the job-demands resources (JD-R) model we examine the relationship between job demands, workaholism and its consequences
The results showed that the indirect effect of job demands on overtime work and workrelated health through workaholism was statistically significant at p < 0.001, as was the indirect effect of job resources on overtime work and work-related health through work engagement

Summary

Introduction

The unprecedented advancements in digitalization, automatization, robotization, and globalization over the past decades have impacted every line of businesses and shortened the life cycle of job content. Organizations seem to increasingly push their employees to work harder and longer (Fry and Cohen, 2009). In the pursuit of increased employee contributions, it is crucial that organizations create working conditions that enable employees to work hard and be well (Cohen and Black, 2013). In the well-established job-demands resources (JD-R) model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007) working conditions are positioned as predictors of well-being and ill-being at work. Even though proposals have been made in favor of expanding the JD-R model, further investigations are needed to validate this expansion, with regard to the antecedents and consequences of workaholism. Workaholism and Work Engagement in the JD-R Model in the present study, we aim to contribute to the literature on this emerging topic by identifying salient predictors of workaholism and work engagement and their relationship with overtime work and work-related health within the framework of the JD-R model

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Conclusion