A longitudinal perspective on the associations between work engagement and workaholism

Antecedents of Workaholism and Work Engagement: A Motivational Perspective in Research on Heavy Work Involvement

In this perspective article, we propose encompassing the motivational perspective to enrich future studies on two forms of heavy work involvement (HWI): workaholism and work engagement. Based on the holistic definition of motivation, we build a theoretical instrumentation that includes four motivational categories that are presented and characterized by relevant key terms: I. Activation and energy of action; II. Action orientation and action realization; III. Competencies and cognitive processes; IV. Work environment and the context of action. We use these categories in an analysis of the latest contemporary research which has investigated the motivational determinants of both workaholism and work engagement. Our analysis shows that studies in this perspective are in the initial stages; we propose examples of theories and models as well as important precise questions embedded in each I-IV motivation category that can stimulate future research directions. The concluding comments include three main recommendations for future research on HWI.

Longitudinal Associations Between Relationship Quality and Depression Among Youth with Intellectual Disabilities: A Latent Change Perspective

This study investigates associations between initial levels and change in the quality of the relationships youth with intellectual disabilities (ID) share with their parents and teachers, and changes in their levels of depression over time. A sample of 395 youth with mild (48.3%) and moderate (51.7%) ID, aged between 11 and 22 (M = 15.69), were recruited in Canada (n = 142) and Australia (n = 253). Youth completed self-report measures of relationship quality and depression twice over a one-year period. Initial levels of warmth (β = - .109) and conflict (β = - .302) predicted decreases in depression. Increases in warmth predicted decreases in depression (β = - .179), while increases in conflict predicted increases in depression (β = .268). Discrepancies between youth relationships with their parents and teachers predicted decreases in depression (βwarmth = - .732; βconflict = - .608).

A cross-cultural comparison of work engagement in the relationships between trust climate - Job performance and turnover intention: Focusing China and Pakistan

While the significance of cross-cultural research has been acknowledged over time, there remains a gap in understanding its relationship with employee outcomes. This study delves into the associations between organizational trust climate (TC) and job performance (JP), as well as turnover intention (TI), seeking to ascertain if work engagement (WE) plays a mediating role. Additionally, the research investigates potential differences in the mediating effect between China and Pakistan. Data gathered from 270 participants in China and 242 in Pakistan were subjected to structural equation modeling (SEM) for analysis. Findings indicated that perceptions of individual WE serve as a bridge between organizational TC and JP, with the effect on JP being notably stronger among the Chinese participants. Moreover, the mediating role of WE in the link between organizational TC and TI was more pronounced for the Pakistani participants. On a practical front, such insights can equip managers with a nuanced understanding of the ripple effect that a trust-infused environment can have on employee engagement, subsequently influencing performance and retention rates.

The consequences of job crafting and engagement in the relationship between passion for work and individual performance of Portuguese workers

Introduction

This study sought to relate the two types of work passion, harmonious passion and obsessive passion, to the organizational consequences of engagement, job crafting, and perceived individual job performance. This study was based on the Employee Work Passion Appraisal model and conducted to evaluate possible statistical associations of the dualistic approach of passion used as an antecedent of positive and negative organizational outcomes (engagement, job crafting, and perceived individual job performance).

Methods

The data collection and analysis for this study were accomplished by a transversal and quantitative study design. A non-probabilistic method was used to select a convenience sample composed of 305 Portuguese workers and was collected online from March to October 2020. The proposed hypotheses were evaluated using partial structural equation models.

Results

Overall, the results supported the proposed hypotheses and showed that harmonious passion positively affected organizational outcomes, while obsessive passion negatively affected these outcomes; notably, our findings also revealed high individual performance, high obsessive passion, and consequently, a significant increase in structural labor resources, a significant decrease in harmful labor demands, and high absorption.

Discussion

The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between harmonious passion and obsessive passion in understanding their consequences for organizational outcomes. Promoting harmonious passion while managing the potential negative effects of obsessive passion is crucial for enhancing positive job-related behaviors and performance. Future research should explore interventions and strategies to foster harmonious passion, mitigate the negative impacts of obsessive passion, and ultimately improve overall work engagement and performance.

What Could Highly Engaged Workers Gain From Mental Health Promotion Programs?: An Exploratory Analysis of Secondary Outcomes of Brief Daily Workplace Well-being Programs

OBJECTIVE

The current study aims to examine the effects of mental health programs on well-being among highly engaged workers.

METHODS

Participants were randomly allocated to body-mind-spiritual or peer support program. Of the whole sample, we examined participants' work engagement and positive affect from the highest quarter and the lowest quarter of work engagement at baseline. Measures were taken at baseline and 1-month intervals during 3-month programs and 3-month follow-up.

RESULTS

The programs had decreasing effects on work engagement in the HWE subgroup. There is an increasing trend of positive affect on the HWE group only in the body-mind-spiritual program. The trajectories of work engagement in the HWE group moved toward a moderate level.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that the work engagement's decrease in the HWE group could be a sign of recovery and relaxation.

The moderating role of time perspective profiles in the association of workaholism, work engagement and perfectionism among Japanese employees

Purpose

First, this study aimed to investigate the association of time perspective (TP) profiles with work engagement and workaholism. Second, it tested TP profiles as the moderator of perfectionism with work engagement and workaholism relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample of this study comprised 148 Japanese employees, and snowball sampling was used for data collection. The authors found the TP profiles in the first step using cluster analysis with five TP dimensions. Next, the authors tested workaholism and work engagement in three clusters. The two dimensions of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns were extracted through the exploratory factor analysis of Sakurai and Ohtani's (1997) perfectionism measure. Further, their relationship with workaholism and work engagement was tested in the TP profiles using multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

Three TP profiles were found, which the authors named: Future (F), Hedonistic and Balanced. There was a significant difference between the three groups. Notably, working compulsively was significantly higher in the Future cluster in the three clusters. The moderator analysis results indicated that perfectionistic concerns positively affected workaholism in the Future cluster but not for the Balanced cluster.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between perspective profiles, workaholism and work engagement. The relationship between these factors can be a stepping stone for further research.

Understanding Work Addiction in Adult Children: The Effect of Addicted Parents and Work Motivation

The aim of the study was to examine the mediating role that work motivation plays in the relationship between perceived work addiction of parents and their adult child's work addiction. The sample was comprised of 537 participants working in different Lithuanian organizations that were selected on the basis of the convenience principle. Data were collected by means of online self-administered questionnaires. To test a mediation model, a structural equation modeling was performed. It was found that perceived work addiction of both mother and father was related to higher levels of work addiction of their adult child. The results also indicated that perceived work addiction of the father was related to increased work addiction in an adult child through higher levels of extrinsic motivation as a partial mediator. The indirect effect of perceived work addiction of the mother (via extrinsic motivation) was not significant. As was expected, the indirect relationship between work addiction in parents and their adult child via intrinsic motivation was not significant. This study demonstrates that integrating both family-related and motivational variables may provide relevant insights into the nature of and mechanisms underlying work addiction and that studies in this field deserve to be further developed in future research.

Moderating role of perceived work addiction of managers in the relationship between employees' perfectionism and work addiction: a trait activation theory perspective

Purpose

Earlier authors suggested that a combination of different factors leads to the development of work addiction, hereby indicating that no single perspective is enough to fully understand this phenomenon. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of perceived work addiction of managers in the relationship between employees' perfectionism and work addiction.

Design/methodology/approach

The present cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 964 workers from different organizations in Lithuania. Data were collected by means of online self-administered questionnaires. To test the moderating effect, a covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) path analysis was performed.

Findings

At the level of bivariate correlations, both self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism showed positive links with employees' work addiction. However, in structural equation models only self-oriented perfectionism was related to higher levels of work addiction. Further, although the results of the study did not confirm the assumption about the moderating effect of perceived work addiction of managers on the relationship between employees' self-oriented perfectionism and work addiction, the results showed that a positive relationship between employees' socially prescribed perfectionism and work addiction was strongest when a manager was perceived to be highly addicted to work.

Originality/value

The study enriched understanding of the roots of work addiction by employing trait activation theory (Tett and Burnett, 2003) and explaining how both dispositional and contextual factors interacted in predicting this phenomenon.

Balancing Work Life: Job Crafting, Work Engagement, and Workaholism in the Finnish Public Sector

The aim of this study was to investigate how job crafting, work engagement, and workaholism were related in public sector organizations. The participants (N = 213) were civil servants from three Finnish public organizations, representing different professions, such as school personnel, secretaries, directors, parking attendants, and ICT specialists. We duly operationalized job crafting, work engagement, and workaholism by using the Job Crafting Scale, the UWES-9, and the Work Addiction Risk Test. The current study focused on the Finnish public sector, since work engagement is recognized at the governmental level and has been shown to be strongly and positively associated with economic activity and productivity, while workaholism is associated with poor wellbeing. We analyzed the data by using structural equation modeling and found that three job crafting dimensions were strongly intertwined with one another. These dimensions were increasing structural job resources, increasing social job resources, and increasing challenging job demands. In the structural model, dimension “increasing structural job resources” was positively related to work engagement, whereas dimension “decreasing hindering job demands” was negatively associated with workaholism. This study highlighted the relevance of employees learning to balance their job resources and demands. We recommend that, in the public sector, employees be systematically encouraged to practice job crafting behavior by enabling them to increase structural job resources. These results are of high relevance, considering the heavy workload of public sector employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Show Must Go On: A Snapshot of Italian Academic Working Life during Mandatory Work from Home through the Results of a National Survey

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide have provided continuity to research and teaching through mandatory work from home. Taking into account the specificities of the Italian academic environment and using the Job Demand-Resource-Recovery model, the present study provides, through an online survey, for the first time a description of the experiences of a large sample of academics (N = 2365) and technical and administrative staff (N = 4086) working in Italian universities. The study analyzes the main differences between genders, roles or work areas, in terms of some job demands, recovery experiences, and outcomes, all important dimensions to achieve goals 3, 4, and 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The results support the reflections on gender equality measures in universities and provide a general framework useful for further in-depth analysis and development of measures in order to improve well-being (SDG 3), quality of education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5).

A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents' Pornography Use Frequency, Motivations, and Problematic Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in pornography use has been reported based on cross-sectional findings, raising concerns about associated adverse outcomes, such as problematic pornography use (PPU). The aims of the present study were to document potential changes in adolescents' pornography use frequency, motivations, and PPU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of an ongoing study on adolescents' sexual health, we used a large sample (NTime 1 = 1771; 47.6% girls, Mage = 15.42 years, SD = 0.59) to examine changes from baseline (before the COVID-19 pandemic) to one year later (during the COVID-19 pandemic) in adolescents' self-reported pornography use frequency, motivations, and PPU, using latent change models and examining potential gender differences. No significant changes were observed in adolescents' pornography use frequency and pornography use motivations, and no gender differences were present in these trends. Although statistically significant, slight decrease was observed in boys' PPU levels, and a statistically significant, slight increase was observed in girls' PPU levels, these changes were very small, providing no practical or clinical relevance. In sum, despite previous propositions, concerns, and cross-sectional findings, longitudinal results suggest that adolescents' pornography use characteristics were rather stable between November 2019 and June 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns might not have led to general increases in adolescents' pornography use as it was expected.

School Principals' Stress Profiles During COVID-19, Demands, and Resources

The present study examined latent profiles of school principals' stress concerning students', teachers', parents', and principals' own ability to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the role of job demands (workload, remote work stress, difficulty to detach from work, COVID-19 crisis, COVID-19 infections at school, impact of COVID-19 on future teaching), resources (buoyancy, effective crisis leadership, social appreciation, successful transition to remote teaching), and occupational well-being (measured as job burnout and engagement) in predicting the latent profiles of stress sources was examined. The participants were 535 (59% women) school principals across Finland, who answered to a questionnaire concerning their sources of stress and occupational well-being during spring 2020. Three latent profiles were identified according to principals' level of stress: high stress (41.4% of the school principals), altered stress (35.9%), and low stress (22.7%) profiles. Work burnout, workload, COVID-19 related concerns, and difficulty to detach from work increased the probability of principals belonging to the high or altered stress profile rather than to the low stress profile. Work engagement, buoyancy, and social appreciation increased the probability of principals belonging to the low rather than to the high or altered stress profile.

Psychometric Properties of Heavy Work Investment Measures: A Systematic Review

In recent years, the study of heavy work investment (HWI) has been diversifying greatly in the various fields of application in the organizational field, for example, occupational health, human resources, quality at work among others. However, to date, no systematic review has been carried out to examine the methodological quality of the instruments designed to measure HWI. Therefore, the present systematic review examines the psychometric properties of three main measures of HWI: Workaholism Battery (WorkBAT), Work Addiction Risk Test (WART), and Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS). Five electronic databases were systematically searched, selecting psychometric articles. Of the 2621 articles identified, 35 articles met all inclusion criteria published between 1992 and 2019. The findings indicated that most of the articles were focused on reviewing psychometric properties, analyses were conducted from classical test theory, collected validity evidence based on internal structure and relationship with other variables, and reliability of scores was obtained through the internal consistency method. Of the instruments reviewed, the DUWAS is the one with the highest methodological quality. Recommendations are made for future research to address the psychometric study of these instruments based on recent advances in the field of organizational measurement.

Having the Cake and Eating It Too: First-Order, Second-Order and Bifactor Representations of Work Engagement

Even though work engagement is a popular construct in organizational psychology, the question remains whether it is experienced as a global construct, or as its three components (vigor, dedication, absorption). The present study thus contributes to the ongoing scientific debate about the dimensionality of work engagement systematically compared one-factor, first-order, higher-order, and bifactor confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) representations of work engagement measured by the short version of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). We also documented the validity evidence of the most optimal representation based on its test-criterion relationship with basic psychological need fulfillment at work, turnover intentions, work addiction, and work satisfaction. Based on responses provided by two distinct samples of employees (N ₁ = 242, N ₂ = 505), our results supported the superiority of the bifactor-CFA representation including a global factor of work engagement and three co-existing specific factors of vigor, dedication, and absorption. This representation replicated well across the two samples through tests of measurement invariance. Finally, while global work engagement was substantially related to all correlates, the specific factors also demonstrated meaningful associations over and above the global levels of work engagement.