Are Engaged Workaholics Protected against Job-Related Negative Affect and Anxiety before Sleep? A Study of the Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

Although the interplay between workaholism and work engagement could explain several open questions regarding the Heavy Work Investment (HWI) phenomenon, few studies have addressed this issue. Thus, with the purpose of filling this literature gap, the present study aimed at examining a model where job-related negative affect mediates the relationship between the interplay of workaholism and work engagement, and anxiety before sleep. Since gender could have a role in the way the interplay would impact on the theorized model, we also hypothesized a moderated role of gender on the specific connection concerning the interplay between workaholism and work engagement, in relation to job-related negative affect. Conditional process analysis was conducted on a sample of 146 participants, balanced for gender. Results supported the mediating model and indicated the presence of a moderated role of gender, such that engaged workaholic women reported significantly less job-related negative affect than disengaged workaholic women. On the contrary, the interplay between workaholism and work engagement did not seem significant for men. Results are discussed in light of the limitations and future directions of the research in this field, as well as the ensuing practical implications.

The Unbearable Lightness of the Academic Work: The Positive and Negative Sides of Heavy Work Investment in a Sample of Italian University Professors and Researchers

“…These results are in line with the second process supposed by JD-R: excessive job demands diminish workers' resources, and therefore, lead to a state of emotional exhaustion and, consequently, diseases [26][27][28][29]. Our data confirm the literature, highlighting that work overload affects work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion [97][98][99] and correlates with workaholism [100]. Probably, workers who perform highly demanding tasks struggle to find a balance between work and family roles and are emotionally and physically exhausted.…”

The majority of professionally active women diagnosed with eating disorders may be at risk of work addiction: an overlooked comorbidity

“…Studies consistently show that WA is associated with low sleep quality and sleep problems (see Griffiths et al, 2018). Recently, there has been a rapidly increasing number of studies aiming to explain the mechanisms by which WA affects sleep disturbance (Gillet, Morin, Sandrin, & Houle, 2018;Hancock et al, 2019;Reiner et al, 2019;Scafuri et al, 2019;Spagnoli, Balducci, Fabbri, Molinaro, & Barbato, 2019;Spagnoli, Balducci, Scafuri, Maiorano, & Buono, 2018). This is an especially appreciated effort since sleep is closely related to health and mortality (Gallicchio & Kalesan, 2009).…”

Seeking Challenges, Individual Adaptability and Career Growth in the Relationship between Workload and Contextual Performance: A Two-Wave Study

“…Workload concerns the feeling that one has too many things to do in too little time. It has often been related to burnout [22] or workplace bullying [23,24], and it might be one of the antecedent variables of workaholism [25]. Meta-analyses [26,27] evidenced that workload and time pressure were strongly related to emotional exhaustion and disengagement.…”