The Four Components of Workaholism (and Why It's Not Just Long Hours)

Malissa Clark, a professor of industrial-organizational psychology at the University of Georgia and director of the Healthy Work Lab, studies workaholism for a personal reason: she recognized the tendencies in herself early in her career. Her research has led her to define workaholism not by how many hours someone works, but by four distinct components that together form a compulsive relationship with work.

The first is motivational: workaholics are driven not by intrinsic enjoyment of their work, but by what psychologists call introjected motivation—a feeling that they ought to be working. Clark describes it as "a pit in my stomach" sensation. The second component is cognitive: workaholics think about work constantly, even when they are doing other things. This internal running dialogue about work keeps them from falling asleep and distracts them during conversations with family. The third is emotional: guilt and anxiety build up when they are not working, which is what drives them to pick up their phone or check email. The fourth is behavioral: workaholics do tend to work longer hours than their colleagues, but the correlation between workaholism and hours worked is only moderate. The behavior also includes things like working on vacation.

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