The differences between work engagement and workaholism, and organizational outcomes: An integrative model

Workaholism and work engagement both indicate high involvement with work, leading to some conceptual confusion. There are important differences, however, but few researchers have investigated the distinction. In this study, I used the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001) to propose an integrative model to demonstrate their theoretical and empirical dissimilarity. I chose turnover intention (TI) and occupational citizenship behavior (OCB) to measure organizational outcomes. The results showed that job resources were positively related to work engagement and that job demands moderated the relationship between job resources and work engagement. In addition, job demands were positively related to workaholism and job resources moderated the relationship between job demands and workaholism. Finally, work engagement influenced TI negatively and OCB positively. However, although workaholism influenced OCB negatively, as expected, the negative influence of workaholism on TI was contrary to my hypothesis.