Understanding workaholism and work engagement: the role of mood and stop rules

Purpose – This study aims at disentangling the different underlying motivations that drive workaholic and engaged employees to work excessively hard. The Mood as Input (MAI) model serves as an explanatory framework. The MAI model assumes that, dependent on the stop rule used, a different mood state may lead to persistence. When individuals evaluate whether they still enjoy an activity (an enjoyment stop rule), a positive mood would signal enjoyment, resulting in persistence. On the other hand, when individuals evaluate whether they have done enough (an enough stop rule), a negative mood would signal discontentment, which would also result in persistence. Design/methodology/approach – A survey study ( n =173) was conducted to test the applicability of the MAI model to the work context. Findings – It was hypothesized and found that workaholism is positively related to negative mood and using an enough stop rule to determine when to stop working. In addition, this study showed that work engagement is related to positive mood. The findings did not support the expectation that work engagement is related to using an enjoyment stop rule to determine when to stop working. In conclusion, the results indicate that both mood and stop rules may be useful for explaining the difference in motivation to work persistently between workaholism and work engagement. Originality/value – The paper advances the understanding of reasons to work hard which are related to work engagement and workaholism. Knowledge about the reasons why employees work hard can help professionals to prevent workaholism, thereby stimulating healthy and enduring careers.