The Role of an Individual and a Situation in Explaining Work Addiction: Disclosing Complex Relations

Abstract

The current study aimed to test the relationships between perfectionism, type A personality, and work addiction via mediator of extrinsic work motivation and moderators of both parent work addiction and demanding organization profiles. A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online self-report questionnaire. A sample consisted of 621 employees working in different Lithuanian organizations that were selected on the basis of the convenience principle. Prior to testing the hypotheses, latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted in order to identify the subgroups of participants based on situational variables. Two profiles (i.e., ‘less addicted parents’ and ‘more addicted parents’) for parent work addiction and tree profiles (i.e., ‘slightly demanding organization’, ‘moderately demanding organization’, ‘highly demanding organization’) for a demanding organization emerged from LPA. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Main results revealed that direct relationships between perfectionism, type A personality, and work addiction were positive and stronger for those working in highly demanding organizations. Indirect relationships between perfectionism, type A personality, and work addiction (via extrinsic motivation) were positive and stronger for employees who have parents with higher levels of work addiction. Future researchers and those who implement preventive practices should be aware that personal factors can be the first impetus for work addiction, and the second one (comprised of situational factors in a family and organization) can enhance the expression of these personal factors and stimulate the development of work addiction.