Uncompensated Overtime Workers’ Motivation to Work: Physical and Psychological Health Outcomes

Presentation given at the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Conference: Dublin, IE.

Abstracts

Content: Purpose Average weekly work hours are steadily increasing, often leading to long work hours in the form of overtime. Data suggests that there are a number of heavily invested workers who engage in additional uncompensated overtime, which may not be logged. In the current study, we propose that a key individual difference between uncompensated overtime workers is their work motivation. In particular, we extend past research linking intrinsic motivation with work engagement and extrinsic motivation with workaholism to account for motivational differences for engaging in uncompensated overtime, which we argue may result in different physical and psychological outcomes. Design/Methodology The study is cross-sectional; we are collecting data from 250 participants who regularly work uncompensated overtime and will test our hypothesized structural equation model (SEM) using moderated mediation. Results We are testing a model investigating both physical outcomes (i.e., physical activity, sleep quality, alcohol use, smoking) and psychological outcomes (i.e., work stress, psychological health, work-family conflict, family functioning). Limitations The main limitation is its cross-sectional nature which limits our ability to determine potential causal relationships. Research/Practical Implications Our findings will provide insight for the health and well-being of overtime workers and potential risk factors for stress at work, both in the context of the work-family interface. Originality/Value This extends past research on motivational differences of engaged and workaholic employees engaging in uncompensated overtime, which may result in different physical and psychological outcomes.