Six Blind Men and an Elephant: Workaholism vs. Work-Engagement from the Big-Two Personality Perspective rather than the Big Five

Abstract

Purpose – This study attempts to compare and contrast workaholism and work engagement in terms of their dispositional antecedents. Although both concepts are perceived as heavy work investment, workaholism is associated with negative consequences such as burnout, counterproductive behavior, work-family conflict, psychosomatic symptoms, and declining work performance. Work engagement, on the other hand, is associated with positive aspects that include superior performance, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, physical and mental health. To distinguish a workaholic from a work engaged employee, this study offers a bird’s eye view using the Big Two, the higher order traits of the Big Five. Design/Methodology/Approach – The study is conducted on a sample of 250 full-time teachers (male: 154, female: 96; mean age:33.38 years) who were working at a higher education institution or a K-12 school in Istanbul, Turkey. The response rate was 90.9%. The convenience sampling method was used in data collection procedures. The data obtained by the survey method were analyzed using the structural equation modeling and common method variance techniques. Finding – According to the results, stability was positively and significantly correlated with work engagement but negatively and significantly correlated with workaholism. Plasticity, on the other hand, was correlated strongly and positively with workaholism yet had no statistically significant correlation with work engagement. The negative and weak correlation between Stability and workaholism became a stronger path in the structural regression model, indicating the presence of a suppressor effect. Discussion – The results of this research reveal that if an organization prefers work engaged employees rather than workaholics, then during the selection process, the hiring decision makers should look for the trait Stability as well.