Workaholism

What is Meant by the Term ‘Workaholism’? Is it a negative Feature of Modern

Developed Economies? Why or Why Not

Introduction

Work has many purposes and can be seen therefore as a positive activity. But the workaholic
individual may over commit themselves to their work. This will prove to be detrimental both
to themselves and those around them. Oates, as early as 1971, described it as akin to
alcoholism. Yet Thorne described it in 1987 as an apparently acceptable addiction. Who has
the right answer?

The research on the subject

Hamilton and Dennis record how the number of men, working excessively long hours has
increased over the past 20 years. ( page 86, Affluenza, 2005) . The situation also affects an
increasing number of women.

Bartolome in 1983 defined workaholism as an attempt to escape the unpleasantaries of life

through excessive work. He also went on to say that non-workaholics, who may also work as
much, simply neglect their private affairs as they struggle to succeed. He saw the difference
as the attitude of those involved. Elsewhere the workaholic has been described as using their
busyness in order to avoid getting emotionally involved.(Seybold and Salomone 1994)

In their article ‘The Balancing Act – At Work and at Home’ page 426ff, Volume 33,
Organizational Dynamics, Quick et al describe the balance all working people need to
maintain between work, home and self. The workaholic has got this balance out of kilter.
They become over anxious and depressive and this affects every aspect of their lives and their
relationships. Seybold and Salome describe several researchers as saying that workaholism is
an attempt to control life. However this is a negative occurrence as the individual finds
himself more and more cut off from positive emotional experiences. They also quote several
people as saying that competition, often a positive dynamic in industrialized societies, may be
in this case be a cause of the problem. Yet is it a problem? There are those whom some would
describe as workaholic who are happy with their life style – they enjoy their work more than
any outside activity.

Bonebright et al in their study of 2000 divide workaholics into two groups – the enthusiastic
and the unenthusiastic. Often the person will see working long hours as necessary, whether
for financial gain or other reasons such as job satisfaction, even when he becomes aware that
this is having a negative effect on his relationships. He may see it as the only way to succeed.
Bu t when relationships begin to be affected he starts to feel guilty because he stays late. The
quality of his work will suffer as a result, so that extra work in fact has a negative impact. He
tries ever harder to succeed, putting in even more hours and becomes trapped by events. He
can’t spend time with his family because he is working so hard to provide for them, but their
lives are all the poorer for his efforts.
So, despite the need for companies to succeed, for targets to be met and for the economy to
grow, workaholism has a negative effect on the community as a whole. This is, according to
Quick et al, especially true in a partnership where both have careers. They say that the
amount of conflict between the needs of work and home that one partner has increases the
similar conflict felt by the other partner and this has a negative effect on the family as a
whole leading to resentment and worse. Quick et al go on to describe the negative effects on
companies as these workers are more liable to take time off ill or even leave because of the
stress that they are under, and the company has the problem then of covering for them or
training a replacement.

So what forms do these conflicts between work and home take? Time – there just isn’t time
left over for family activities. This doesn’t just mean time spent away from the family, but
time spent at home but pre-occupied by work matters. Strain- the strain of the work role
makes it difficult to also play the role of parent or spouse. This can take the form of tiredness
or bad temper. Finally Quick et al describe behaviour based conflict, when the worker tries to
behave at home as he would at work. For instance he may expect young children to react in
the same way that he expects his co-workers to do when he gives an order.

As well as stripping the time that people would generally have to devote to community
activities, overwork seems to shape people’s mindsets in such a way that they feel that their
community is something from which they must protect themselves rather than a resource on
which they can draw and to which they can contribute. Page 95, Affluence, Hamilton and
Dennis, 2005

Such an individual is heading for a breakdown – often described as burnout – whereby he

becomes emotionally deficient. His positive achievements decrease to the extent that he may
feel depersonalized – just a machine. Some see the problem as related to an obsessive –
compulsive personality e.g. Naughton in 1987.

Conclusion

The community must be negatively impacted by such attitudes, whether that community is
just a partnership of husband and wife or whether it is the world at large. It is a problem that
is increasingly recognised by society and it is one that it needs to be able to deal with.
Companies and individuals should be more aware of the problem before it gets out of hand
and have facilities to deal with it in the form of easily available counselling sessions.

Workaholism may appear at first to be a positive thing. It may seem good to a boss if he has
someone who is always willing to work the extra hours. Bonebright et al quote Kiechell as
saying that ‘These people are an employer’s dream…impelled by both joy and fear.’ Yet
traits of workaholism, according to Bonebright et al, include such things as perfectionism and
an inability to delegate, both of which can be great time wasters and can reduce efficiency. So
we see that if the time worked is ultimately counterproductive for the individual, it will also
be counterproductive for the company and for society as a whole.

Works Cited

Hamilton and Dennis Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough, Allen and Unwin,
Sydney 2005
Oates,W. Confessions of a Workaholic: the Facts about Work Addiction, World Publishing,
New York, 1971

Journals

Bartolome, F. (l983). The work alibi: When it’s harder to go home. Harvard Business
Review, 61, 66-74.

Keichel,W.(1989) The Workaholic Generation, pages 50-62, Fortune,119

Thorne,P. (1987) Workalholism – the Acceptable Face of Addiction? International

Management ,71

Naughton,T.(1987) A Conceptual View of Workaholism and Implications for Career

Counseling and Research, pages 180-187, The Career Development Quarterly,35

Electronic Sources

Bonebright,C. et al The Relationship of Workaholism with Work-life Conflict, Life

Satisfaction and Purpose in Life, pages 469 – 477, Vol 47, Number 4, Journal of Counseling
Psychology, 2000

Quick, J.et al ‘The Balancing Act – At Work and At Home’ Organizational Dynamics, pages
426-238, volume 33, Number 4 , 2004

Seybold, K. and Salome P. Understanding Workaholism,: A Review of Causes and

Counseling Approaches, Journal of Counseling and Development, page 4 , Volume 73, 1994
found at

http://www.stetson.edu/~bboozer/RWBStetsonSite/XMBA/Understanding_workaholism.htm
accessed 6th August 2007