When work becomes an addiction: An exploration of individual and organizational antecedents of workaholism and the impact on employee outcomes

In this study, we propose and empirically test a model in which we explore the role of individual and organizational antecedents on reported levels of workaholism and we investigate the relationship between workaholism and some important employee outcome variables. Using data from a sample of 2759 full-time employed Belgian workers, our findings indicate that strongly engaged and ambitious employees (in terms of career progress) show higher levels of workaholism. Organizational work-life balance support shows to inhibit workaholism. Furthermore, we found workaholism to be important in explaining work-life conflict and employees’ commitment to flexibility and performance. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.