Are workaholics born or made? Relations of workaholism with person characteristics and overwork climate

While the academic literature acknowledges that workaholism may result from individual characteristics as well as from environmental factors, little is known about the joint impact of these two kinds of antecedents. The present study explores whether the interaction between the perception of an overwork climate in the workplace and person characteristics (i.e., achievement motivation, perfectionism, conscientiousness, self-efficacy) may foster workaholism. Data were collected on a sample of 333 Dutch employees. The results of moderated regression analyses fully supported our hypotheses and showed that the interaction between an overwork climate and person characteristics is related to workaholism. More specifically, our results revealed a significant increase in workaholism when employees both possessed person characteristics that predispose them toward workaholism and perceived an overwork climate in their workplaces. In addition, conscientiousness and self-efficacy were related to workaholism, but only in interaction with the presence of an overwork climate. These results contribute to the ongoing conceptualization of workaholism by demonstrating empirically that a work environment characterized by an overwork climate may foster workaholism, especially for those high in achievement motivation, perfectionism, conscientiousness, and self-efficacy.