Well-being not workaholics' priority

Researchers have found a preliminary link between workaholics and reduced physical and mental well-being.

Sarah Asebedo, doctoral student in the College of Human Ecology's personal financial planning and conflict resolution program, Edina, Minnesota, conducted the study using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.

She conducted the study with her colleagues-Sonya Britt, assistant professor of family studies and human services and director of the university's personal financial planning program, and Jamie Blue, doctoral student in personal financial planning, Tallahassee, Florida.

Asebedo said that the team looked at the link between workaholism and physical and mental well-being and found that workaholics - those working more than 50 hours per week - were likelier to have low physical well-being, measured by skipped meals.

The study also found that workaholism was linked with reduced mental well-being as measured by a self-reported depression score.

To understand why people work overtime even when they know it is not good for their well-being, the researchers used Gary S. Becker's Theory of the Allocation of Time, which suggests that not only can working more make a person wealthier but it also creates less leisure time to spend money.

Data for the study was taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, a nationally representative sample of 12,686 young men and women who were interviewed on an annual basis from 1979 through 1994 and are currently interviewed on a biennial basis.

The study is set to be published in Financial Planning Review.