Even when they’re engaged in their passion – work – workaholics’ mood tends to be worse than that of their non-work-addict counterparts, with workaholism sharing similarities with other addictions, finds research.
The research by Cristian Balducci from the University of Bologna (Rimini Campus), Luca Menghini from the University of Trento and Paola Spagnoli from the University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, was published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
Professor Balducci said that the study suggests that those addicted to work do not derive more pleasure from their work activity. Instead, “the results seem to confirm that, as in other forms of behavioural and substance addiction, the initial euphoria gives way to a negative emotional state that pervades the person even while at work.”
The results also demonstrate that, unlike other workers, workaholics, on average, consistently maintain a more negative mood throughout the day, with no significant variations attributed to the passage of time or fluctuations in workload. A diminished reactivity of mood to external stimuli implies a notable emotional flattening, a well-recognised phenomenon in other types of addictions.
Professor Balducci warned that in addition to negative mood in workaholics being possibly linked to elevated daily stress levels which could lead to burnout and cardiovascular problems, as workaholics often hold positions of responsibility, their negative mood could negatively impact that of colleagues.
The study also found that the relationship between work addiction and bad mood was more pronounced in women than in men, perhaps because of a conflict between work roles and external pressures.
- Read the study here