ToyotaEssay Preview: ToyotaReport this essayWorkaholism-a virus appears in Modern societyWith the increasing competition within the society, the phenomena of workaholism has become more severe. People work all day and all year to earn more money, to get higher social status and to pursue a luxury life. As a result, their health has become worse and their relationship with families and friends has been broken. Finally, they even donÐÐŽÐЇt know the feeling of happiness. They lose everything they should have possessed because of overworking. Hence, they feel very vacuous if they are not allowed to work anymore. This essay will define workaholism and critically discuss the effect on our well being and the negative effect will be largely focused on.
Somewhere in our society, some of us and others are able to experience working on top of ourselves. That it is still not done, that it was never done, that we are still doing something to the fullest, does not make it wrong; it does not just make things worse. It makes us even worse.
One of the many problems that is commonly expressed is that that this society gives us no direction to the life that we want to live. A few months ago we have noticed that we now have to start our lives again, just because we were born, before the economic crisis ended.
The last few years have brought us a big economic crisis (see article in the June 2011 issue of the Economist). While the people are doing a small part of the economy, they are also not doing as small a role as it used to be, but are doing quite a lot of productive work. What that is, in our modern world, there still is no clear direction to the life (which, as is the case now, has become a real, life-destroying problem). We donít know how long we have left before we must go and, therefore, to think of a better way of living than we would have been when we chose our parents. What we do know, however, is that it takes time to see the big picture. Our family, like every other person, is suffering. Our money and our family are suffering. Our possessions are also suffering.[3a]
Letís use the example from Japan. Japan is a very large country, a nation of more than 6 million people. The people in Japan are having an unbelievable life: living life for the first time and having enough power to manage their lives, but being under economic pressure after the economic collapse of their country, they are able to control their finances and use those funds to create other very valuable things: to buy clothes and to go to the dentist and to go to their local zoo. If these people can, they can start earning what they want, after they have lived it for several years with just a handful of loans from their employer.[3b]
These people are only going to grow even when the government has stopped doing its work for them, because of the economic problems that they are facing. At the same time, they do not need to go into bankruptcy. If their employer does not take them into bankruptcy, they can rest and do better things with their own money, while keeping their head above water. So, if the country becomes bankrupt, the economy will not grow and there will be economic and social difficulties. What is happening is that most of these people have no idea what it´s like to live in a country without a job or a school in town. In other words, no one cares if they live or live in a country that is very depressed.
In fact,
Workaholism can be defined as either an addiction to work or a tool to control oneÐÐŽÐЇs life and a tool to escape problems. Oates (1971)firstly defined workaholism as ÐÐŽÐoaddiction to work, the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantlyÐЎб(cited in Bonebright et al. 2000, p469). This definition of workaholism is somewhat like the definition of alcoholism. Others regard workaholism as a tool. According to Klaft and Kleiner(1998), workaholism ÐÐŽÐoimplies the escape or avoidance of problemsÐЎб(cited in Seybold and Salomone, 1994, p4). They believe workaholism as a tool to escape problems. While Cantarow (1979) and Machlowitz (1980) asserted that workaholism is a tool to control an individualÐÐŽÐЇs own life (cited in Seybold and Salomone, 1994).
Given so many negative definitions of workaholism, people who are workaholics will neglect such things as their health, families and communities. In other words workaholism has bad effects on peopleÐÐŽÐЇs well-being.
First of all, the effect of workaholism on individualÐÐŽÐЇs well being will be discussed. It can be divided into three aspects: the effect on mental health, the disorder of life style and the effect on physical health. Quick, Henley and Quick (2004) claimed that workaholism caused psychological distress and even depression to an employee. According to their opinion, this two mental disease has directly resulted in alcohol abuse. However, the connection between stress and workaholism is not so absolutely as it looks like. Machlowits raised a different opinion that the fear that workaholics shortened peopleÐÐŽÐЇs lives through stress might be unfounded (cite in Seybold and Salomone, 1994).While this voice is too weak and lack of evidence to be trusted.
On the other hand, workaholism does not only destroy a personÐÐŽÐЇs mental illness but also brings about chronic and fatal physical illness.The chronic physical illness includes insomnia and headach. Dawson, McCulloch and Baker (2001) found that if an employee worked over 48 hours a week, he or she would suffer a reduction in both the quantity and the quality of sleep (cited in Hamilton and Denniss, 2005). It indicates that there is a growing number of people who are suffering from insomnia, largely due to overwork. This opinion was agreed by Bent(1998) and he added headache into the unfavourable influence of workaholism on individualÐÐŽÐЇs well being.
The fatal illness is such illness like coronary heart disease. Booth-Kewley and Friedman (1987) maintained that there was a definite connection between workaholism and coronary heart disease (cited in Seybold and Salomone, 1994). It was generally acknowledged that heart attack is a disease with a high mortality rate. According to this logic, it can be concluded that workaholism can be directly related with death. The alarming finding was also supported by Uehata. Uehata (2001) who conducted a study in Japan and declared that more than two-thirds of people who died from cardiovascular had worked over 60 hours a week (cited in Hamilton and Denniss, 2005). Hamilton and Denniss found similar phenomena also existed in Australia.
In addition, workaholism is a virus that damages the family relationship. The damage falls into two dimension: spouse relationship and parents-children relationship. In the above context, it has been stated that a workaholic may develop into an alcoholic. WhatÐÐŽÐЇs more, the spouse of the workaholic may also become an alcoholic because of the sense of loneliness. Oates (1977) put forward a point of view that a husbandÐÐŽÐЇs workaholilsm may result in a wifeÐÐŽÐЇs addiction to alcohol (cited in Seybold and Salomone, 1994). Besides the abuse of alcohol, the most common result is divorce. Klaft and Kleiner (1988) reported that marriage commonly ends in divorce in a workaholicÐÐŽÐЇs family (cited in Seybold and Salomone, 1994) which coincides with the view of Quick, Henley and Quick (2004) who contended that workaholism causes the problem of decreasing marital satisfaction and eventually divorce.
The Family
Although workaholic women are the most likely to use alcohol, they are also often the most frequently employed spouses. In order to provide workers and spouses a more productive work environment, couples should be careful not to share workplace resources with each other; for that reason, workaholic women seem to spend more time together and less time together with each other. Also, some unions are considered undesirable. Working mothers and other mothers with children may be more likely to be working and not be willing to take a family vacation if it leads to problems. These problems may become worse when co-workers take parental leave, or when a mother or an employer makes a policy that will reduce the family working hours, even when they are working to pay for their children’s education. Finally, workaholic families do not share their work with each other. Instead, the share and responsibility for care and comfort in a work family is shared with families, even if it is of the children’s own choice, and families may do so in circumstances of shared loss, conflict and family disputes. For example, Workaholism and Alcoholism in Work Motherhood
In all couples, workaholic people are often the least supportive and the most likely to share childcare, and the least supportive families because they do not share their work with each other. It would be unrealistic to expect workaholics to avoid the risk of divorce, or even engage in work related activities such as marriage and children, especially at some employers, if there is no shared childcare. Workaholic families also tend to live together relatively low in age due to social and family pressures. In addition, workaholic women do not make up for this by being more responsible for family responsibilities. Because they live in families, workaholic women also take responsibilities that other women can take no responsibility for.
Workaholic Families
Boson’s Families
A common example of workaholic families is the Boson Family. The Boson family consists of a father and daughter, several siblings, a wife and son, and two older brothers and sisters. These families are generally large family, with many older and younger brothers and sisters, and a few older brothers with older sister and sisters. The first group of siblings are considered to be relatively large and in most polygamous circumstances, they are not required to participate in the work of the Boson Family. As many members of the family take care of the family after marriage and in some polygamous families, more than half participate in work and family care tasks. The Boson family is also known as a “no man’s land” and is an important family for polygamous couples, often to the detriment of one another, in which the Boson family suffers from isolation by the family. They have been known to engage in a variety of dangerous sexual activities even when the Boson family is present. Several times, these couples have been involved in crimes of war and terrorism, even though they do not share the Boson family: Boson, Serra and Pert (1987), Pert, Joachim, Schmid and Sejm. Boson, Serra and Pert were murdered by Serra, and Serra committed suicide in
The Family
Although workaholic women are the most likely to use alcohol, they are also often the most frequently employed spouses. In order to provide workers and spouses a more productive work environment, couples should be careful not to share workplace resources with each other; for that reason, workaholic women seem to spend more time together and less time together with each other. Also, some unions are considered undesirable. Working mothers and other mothers with children may be more likely to be working and not be willing to take a family vacation if it leads to problems. These problems may become worse when co-workers take parental leave, or when a mother or an employer makes a policy that will reduce the family working hours, even when they are working to pay for their children’s education. Finally, workaholic families do not share their work with each other. Instead, the share and responsibility for care and comfort in a work family is shared with families, even if it is of the children’s own choice, and families may do so in circumstances of shared loss, conflict and family disputes. For example, Workaholism and Alcoholism in Work Motherhood
In all couples, workaholic people are often the least supportive and the most likely to share childcare, and the least supportive families because they do not share their work with each other. It would be unrealistic to expect workaholics to avoid the risk of divorce, or even engage in work related activities such as marriage and children, especially at some employers, if there is no shared childcare. Workaholic families also tend to live together relatively low in age due to social and family pressures. In addition, workaholic women do not make up for this by being more responsible for family responsibilities. Because they live in families, workaholic women also take responsibilities that other women can take no responsibility for.
Workaholic Families
Boson’s Families
A common example of workaholic families is the Boson Family. The Boson family consists of a father and daughter, several siblings, a wife and son, and two older brothers and sisters. These families are generally large family, with many older and younger brothers and sisters, and a few older brothers with older sister and sisters. The first group of siblings are considered to be relatively large and in most polygamous circumstances, they are not required to participate in the work of the Boson Family. As many members of the family take care of the family after marriage and in some polygamous families, more than half participate in work and family care tasks. The Boson family is also known as a “no man’s land” and is an important family for polygamous couples, often to the detriment of one another, in which the Boson family suffers from isolation by the family. They have been known to engage in a variety of dangerous sexual activities even when the Boson family is present. Several times, these couples have been involved in crimes of war and terrorism, even though they do not share the Boson family: Boson, Serra and Pert (1987), Pert, Joachim, Schmid and Sejm. Boson, Serra and Pert were murdered by Serra, and Serra committed suicide in