A Comparative Study : Impact of Workaholism on the Well-Being of Employees in Private and Government Airline Industry

Abstract

The term workaholism, patterned after the workaholism, first appeared in a book by Oates (1971) in which he described workaholism as a compulsive or uncontrollable need to work incessantly, resulting in negative consequences. Research has yielded mixed result in relation to the impact workaholism can have on people’s lives. Some authors view workaholism in positive terms (Machlowitz, 1980), while others view it in negative terms (Robinson, 1998). This study focused on the relationship between workaholism and health and well-being. An online, self-report questionnaire, which included the Workaholism Battery (Spence & Robbins, 1992), was completed by 150 employees throughout three major airlines of the capital city of Islamabad named as Shaheen Airlines, PIA and Air Blue. Participants were taken from different departments in order to get accurate results. The average of female participants was more than the males. However the results concluded by the surveys contributed significantly in the present study. The main finding of this study was that there was insignificant relationship between the Workaholism components and the Well-being variables. Another important finding of this study was that different types of workaholics reported significantly different levels of psychological well-being. The present data also challenges the negative stereotype of workaholism, and emphasizes the importance of developing strategies to better manage workaholism within the workplace.