A study of workaholism in Irish academics

Background

Workaholism is recognized as a health risk for academics given the open-ended nature of academic work; however, current prevalence rates of workaholism in the academic setting are unknown.

Aims

To assess the prevalence of workaholism within academics and determine the impact of workaholism on psychological well-being, work–life conflict, work–life fit, job satisfaction and perceived work effort.

Methods

Academics in three Irish universities completed a survey including measures of workaholism, psychological well-being, work–life conflict and job satisfaction. Analysis of variance tests were used to compare workaholism types on the outcome measures.

Results

A total of 410 academics completed the survey and were categorized by workaholism type: workaholics (27%), enthusiastic workaholics (23%), relaxed workers (27%) and uninvolved workers (23%). Workaholics reported poorer functioning across all the outcome measures in comparison to the other three groups.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the high levels of workaholism within academia and highlights the negative impact of workaholism on work-related outcomes and psychological well-being. These findings are significant given the highly intensive nature of academic work today and reducing resources within this sector.

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