Overworking hours is not harmful for health, this debate is going from long time. Overworking hours frequently results in stress, burnout, and depression. But in practice, there isn’t a simple calculation that says “more work=harmful for health.” In some circumstances, the opposite might be true! The main distinction is whether the long hours are being worked because of internal pressure or external pressure.
Is overworking hours a serious health problem?
Study found that, compared to those workers who work 35 to 40 hours a week, those individuals who work 55 hours or more are more prone to a higher risk of having a stroke (37%) and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease. There is a wealth of research showing that people who work long hours suffer from stress, weariness, burnout, exhaustion, or sickness.
Because it is so common, excessive work effort is a serious concern: the Sixth European Working Conditions Surveys found that 30% of European workers consistently put in more than 40 hours each week. According to the Trade Unions Congress, 5.3 million workers in the UK alone put in approximately 8 hours per week more than their weekly allotted hours without receiving compensation.
As long as employees have discretion over how much time they put in. Overtime work does not have a negative impact on employee outcomes. It is nothing related to serious health problems. Although executives are willing workaholics, their bodies suffer and rebel, raising questions about this premise. By demonstrating that outcomes in matters of good health and well-being depend on the long working hours/overworking professionals spent.
Differentiating between extrinsic and internal motivations: pressure vs. enthusiasm
To shed light on the driving forces behind people’s overworking hours in office, they employed the idea of self-determination as a theoretical lens. There is a clear distinction between extrinsic motivation, which refers to acting in a way that serves an external goal, and intrinsic motivation, which refers to acting in a way that is intrinsically engaging and enjoyable. The former includes things like money, praise, or pressure; the latter includes things like trying to be more like yourself or wanting to do a better job.
Peer pressure and guilt were the first to determine link between well-being and extrinsically motivated work effort. When people put in long hours for they are more likely to develop serious health problems like stress and sadness. It appears that their motivations are more significant than the fact that they had no other choice. What other motivational elements fall under this category and promote intensive work effort? Employees may decide to put in face time, also known as presentism, in an effort to progress their careers. They can face the prospect of being laid off from duties. This is the condition if they can’t keep up with the demands of an excessive workload.
Work effort and well-being are intrinsically motivated: commitment, and a desire to learn
In contrast, actions motivated by intrinsic motivation are rewarding and hence linked to happier feelings, attitudes, and well-being. “Well-being can be maintained when overworking hours are deliberate for employees”. Over-working, People, especially knowledge workers for whom their work is an integral part of who they are. It “may also put all of their efforts into it out of loyalty to colleagues or the organization.”
Inner motivation and external rewards reinforce each other
Overworking hours- What transpires, though, when both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are present? Will professionals feel so compelled to act in this way. They reduce the extent to which they do so out of a sense of commitment,. For instance, if social contagion forces them to work longer hours? Will the desire to improve one’s job “crowded out” by peer pressure? Quite the opposite. Despite the “crowding out” theory’s dominance in academic literature, they discovered that extrinsic and intrinsic drives actually support one another. In other words, aiming for progress and over-working to show a desire for a promotion, for instance, are complementary. Additionally, they discovered that the relationship between well-being and intrinsically motivated work effort was stronger. At higher levels of overtime, whereas extrinsically motivated work effort lowers well-being regardless of the amount of overtime.