Three-way interaction effects of workaholism on employee well-being: Evidence from blue-collar workers in New Zealand

Abstract or Summary

Workaholism is an important workplace phenomenon that has received less empirical testing than might be expected. This study of 100 New Zealand blue-collar workers tested whether three dimensions of workaholism: work involvement, drive to work and work enjoyment were related to anxiety, depression, and insomnia and in the majority this was supported. Work involvement was positively related to all outcomes, while work enjoyment was negatively related. Drive to work was positively related to anxiety and insomnia only. Overall, consistently large amounts of variance were explained by the workaholism triad. In addition, significant interactions were found towards anxiety and insomnia using a three-way interaction with the workaholism triad. Overall, higher work involvement was useful in buffering detrimental outcomes for those with either high work involvement or high drive to work, but not both. The present study provides a new way of understanding the effects of workaholism in the workplace.