An investigation about work engagement and workaholism in relation to workload, job autonomy and work-family balance

The purpose of this thesis is to examine workaholism and work engagement in terms of their relationships with work family balance, workload and job autonomy. Within the context of the research, already developed and/or frequently used scales have been administered. In line with the thesis, firstly a pilot study was conducted followed by the administration of questionnaire forms which were applied in two different sessions to the participants in order to avoid common method variance. Data was obtained from the internet via Google Forms. One hundred and fifty four participants who were employed currently completed all the scales. A group of 102 respondents who were the life partners of the individuals in the sample contributed to the research by filling in the work-family balance scale from their own perspectives. Results show a positive but nonsignificant relationship between workaholism and work engagement as expected. Besides, it has been found out that workaholism predicts workload and work family balance perceived by both participants and their partners. Work engagement predicts job autonomy and work family balance perceived by participant whereas work engagement does not predict work family balance perceived by partner at a significant level. In addition, it has been found that workload has a partial mediator role between both participant's workaholism and work family balance perceived by participant, and participant's workaholism and work family balance perceived by partner. However, as for job autonomy, between participant's work engagement and work family balance either perceived by the participants themselves or their life partners a mediator role couldn't be supported. The findings, limitations and strenghts of the study were discussed within the conceptual framework and recommendations in relation to future research were provided. Key Words: work engagement, workaholism, work-family balance, workload, job autonomy