2013 Conference

Health

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between workaholism (working 50 or more hours per week) and personal and psychosocial well-being. With time being a scarce resource, it is important to understand the trade-offs involved and the implications that arise from time allocation decisions. Becker (1965) provides a theoretical framework for the allocation of time that lays the groundwork for this understanding. Data were obtained from the 2010 administration of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). In 2010, the sample ranged in age from 45 to 53. Using listwise deletion for missing data, the final sample size was 4,762 for the first regression analysis predicting physical well-being (likelihood to skip meals) and 4,312 for the second regression analysis predicting psychosocial well-being (self-esteem scores). The statistically significant variables associated with skipping meals included being female, workaholism, and caring for a disabled family member, in order of importance to the model. The statistically significant variables associated with self-esteem included higher education attainment, being married, race classification of Black, and workaholism, in order of importance to the model. Policy implications include the development of business practices aimed to reduce the negative impact workaholism can have an employees’ physical and psychosocial well-being, potentially resulting in a healthier and more productive workforce. The results of this study may be enlightening for those directly or indirectly experiencing workaholism to further understand the damaging effects of workaholism on personal well-being. Through increased awareness, personal change may be more likely to occur.