Burnout and poor perceived health in flexible working time in Japanese employees: the role of self-endangering behavior in relation to workaholism, work engagement, and job stressors

Abstract

The study aim was to examine whether flexible working time was associated with burnout and poor perceived health in relation to the work-related psychological/behavioral factors of selfendangering work behavior (SEWB), workaholism, work engagement, and job stressors. We analyzed data obtained from an Internet survey of 600 full-time Japanese employees. We also proposed a causal model using path analysis to investigate the overall relationships of burnout and perceived health to psychological/behavioral factors. The results indicated that flexible working time was associated with adverse work-related consequences and factors such as increased burnout, working hours, SEWB, workaholism, and job demands, and with positive factors such as improvement of work engagement. The path analysis suggested that burnout was caused by workaholism both directly and via SEWB, and by low job decision latitude, and was reduced by work engagement. Similarly, it was observed that poor health was caused by workaholism via SEWB, and reduced by work engagement. Thus, SEWB is driven by workaholism and plays a key role in the adverse health consequences of flexible working time. For workers to benefit from flexible working time, it is important to improve workaholism, SEWB, and low job decision latitude, and to develop work engagement in the workplace.

Teachers’ Well-Being and Associated Factors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Hong Kong, China

“…In terms of self-endangering work behaviours (i.e. work intensification and extensification), our findings are in line with a study of Japanese employees, which suggested that burnout was caused directly by workaholism or through self-endangering work behaviours [ 38 ]. Self-endangering work behaviours can be viewed as a coping mechanism when workers are challenged with large workloads and significant needs for self-organisation [ 37 ].…”

“…Teachers have been required to immediately transition to remote teaching, which became a major stressor in their work [ 19 , 82 ]. Teachers also experienced changes to their working environments; corresponding research revealed that flexible work schedules are associated with self-endangering work behaviours and burnout [ 38 ]. Therefore, we posit that self-endangering work behaviours, comprising work intensification and extensification, are two predictors of teachers’ perceived stress during the pandemic in Hong Kong.…”

“…This was originally proposed by Dettmers et al in the context of the stress transformational mode [ 37 ] as a coping mechanism to treat diminished well-being brought on by heavy workloads and demanding expectations of self-management. A recent study of the Japanese general population revealed that self-endangering work behaviours were more prevalent in cases of flexible work schedules and long working hours than for rigid schedules and short working hours [ 38 ]. However, noting the forced transition to remote teaching made teachers’ work schedules more flexible and increased working hours, it is important to explore the prevalence of self-endangering work behaviours among teachers in Hong Kong during the pandemic.…”

Association Between Low Back Pain, Workaholism, and Work Engagement in Japanese Hospital Workers

“…Several previous studies have reported that higher work engagement is associated with less psychological distress, physical complaints, and ill-health and that high engagement buffers the negative effects of workaholism. 18 , 23 , 26 , 56 Furthermore, vitality, a component of work engagement, is positively associated with subjective health and is recognized as a physical health effect of positive sensations. 57 , 58 Vitality is an element that workaholics do not have, so the concept of work engagement is essential to physical health.…”

Psychosocial Occupational Health—A Priority for Middle-Income Countries?

“…A second line of contributions analysed the health effects of non-standard employment conditions evolving from new global labour market developments. Unpredictable work trajectories and increased job instability had a strong negative impact on mental and physical well-being [50][51][52][53]. Finally, as long working hours are a highly prevalent concern in Asia Pacific, their adverse effects on a broad spectrum of health complaints were extensively studied, often as part of national working conditions surveys [54][55][56][57].…”