Sarah Wellman¹, Shahnaz Aziz^1,, Zoe Strohmeyer¹, Ciara Covington¹

The current study fills a gap in the extant research on three constructs that have been studied independently rather than collectively: aggressive behavior, perfectionism, and workaholism. Past research has not answered the more specific question of what relationship, if any, exists between these three variables. Our study builds on theoretical frameworks linking internal emotional states and performance-based self-esteem to workplace behavior. Notably, we explored the association between aggressive behavior, perfectionism, and workaholism with a survey comprised of three validated self-report measures. This survey was administered to a sample of full-time white-collar employees from various businesses. Findings supported previous research on the relationship between workaholism and perfectionism. Additionally, new links between aggressive behavior and the other study variables were found. Workaholism was positively associated with aggressive behavior and mediated the relationship between aggression and perfectionism. Further, exploratory analyses revealed gender moderated the relationship between perfectionism and workaholism, with women showing a stronger association. Our findings highlight the interaction between personality traits and behavioral outcomes in the workplace, and emphasize the importance of organizations implementing intervention strategies early on to lower the risk of harmful outcomes.

aggressive behavior, perfectionism, workaholism, occupational health, organizational behavior