Thirst for work not all bad

By ADAM GIFFORD

Research by Waikato University doctoral student Lynley McMillan is lifting the lid on workaholism. She has found that New Zealand workaholics like what they do and are driven to keep doing it - unlike overseas studies, which claim workaholics do not enjoy work.

Ms McMillan is analysing data after questionnaires were sent to 1000 people in five large organisations - a hospital, a manufacturer and companies in the dairy, financial services and communications industries.

Of the 421 who replied, she chose 50 who fitted her criteria for workaholism, and a control group of 50 who were not. The 100 were issued diaries to keep for a week in February and another week in August.

"It's the first time anyone has used diaries in workaholism research," Ms McMillan says.

"I got them to mark in what they were doing every 20 minutes - whether working, eating, exercising, watching television, and when they slept - and whether they thought about work.

"We also interviewed their partners and colleagues, asking what they thought was going on and how that person was behaving.

"The thing which stood out was workaholics thought about work four times more than those in the control group.

"They had huge difficulty disengaging, so they are thinking about work any time, anywhere, in all social situations.

"Even if they're sitting next to you on the couch watching television, there's a sort of psychological absence - they're not really there with you because they're thinking about work."

Ms McMillan says the control group could change gear at the end of the working day, but workaholics seemed stuck in the same gear.

Workaholism is not necessarily unhealthy: "There was not a lot of difference between the groups as to how healthy they were or how often they exercised."

She says the research is blowing away many of the stereotypes about workaholism which arose from work done in the United States where the term was first coined in 1968.

"The image is the workaholic in a suit behind a desk. We found that anyone - from nurses to factory staff, cleaners to managing directors - can be workaholics.

"It's also not an ethnic or cultural thing. If you are workaholic you're highly-driven and probably more suited to self-employment."

There was evidence, however, that workaholism is more likely in older people.

Ms McMillan thought workaholics would not enjoy their leisure time as much as others do. "The study blew that hypothesis - they get just as much pleasure from leisure as the control group."

She started her research, while doing a social science degree, because the Employment Contracts Act seemed to be driving major change in the workplace. "It's a legitimate question whether the ECA legitimised workaholism."

The study might help organisations to better understand their staff and to take steps to maximise positive aspects of workaholism and to minimise any negative effects.

"At the moment, organisations don't know if they should encourage workaholics or say 'take time out,"' Ms McMillan says.