It might seem like employees who spend a lot of time at work are passionate about their jobs – but, without realising it, they can fall into addiction and become workaholics. This addiction, which is still insufficiently recognised, is often linked to negative emotions, according to a new study that sheds light on the psychology of the workaholic.

While studies have previously focused on this group of workers, they have often come to contrasting conclusions. Some claim workaholics are beset by highly negative emotions ranging from stress to hostility, while others suggest that they take pleasure in their professional activity, despite their addiction.

To get a clearer idea of their motivations, a research team in Italy conducted a study involving 139 full-time employees, the findings of which are published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

A psychological test was used to assess participants’ degree of work addiction, and their mood and perception of their workload analysed using the experience sampling method. Volunteers were asked to complete short questionnaires every 90 minutes from 9am to 6pm on three working days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).

This protocol revealed that employees who were most addicted to work were more unhappy than those who were able to take a step back. They consistently maintained a more negative mood throughout the day, with no significant variations attributed to the passage of time or fluctuations in workload.

This could be explained by the fact that addiction often leads to emotional flattening – an inability to feel emotions in situations that should elicit them.

The dangers of overworking

For lead researcher Cristian Balducci, these results contradict the conventional wisdom that workaholics enjoy working non-stop. “It does not appear to be true that people who are addicted to work derive more pleasure from their work activity; quite the opposite,” he said.

“The results seem to confirm that, as in other forms of behavioural and substance addiction, the initial euphoria gives way to a negative emotional state that pervades the person even while at work.”

Balducci and colleagues urge companies not to encourage their staff to work longer than they should. In addition to being counterproductive, this behaviour can quickly get out of hand and have serious repercussions on physical and mental health, including sleep disorders, headaches, hypertension, burnout, and social isolation.

“Organisations must send clear signals to workers on this issue and avoid encouraging a climate where working outside working hours and on weekends is considered the norm.

“On the contrary, it is necessary to foster an environment that discourages excessive and dysfunctional investment in work, promoting disconnection policies, specific training activities, and counselling interventions,” Balducci concluded.