Workaholism, heart anxiety, and their effects on work-focused well-being and turnover intentions

Drawing upon Conservation of Resources theory, we examined how workaholism and heart anxiety, an often overlooked form of somatic and psychological distress, jointly relate to employees' work-focused well-being and turnover intentions. Heart anxiety reflects persistent worry about cardiac sensations, which may intensify resource depletion when combined with high workaholism. Across two studies (Study 1: 340 university employees; Study 2: 128 small business owners), both workaholism and heart anxiety were negatively associated with work-focused well-being. Workaholism strengthened the relationship between heart anxiety and work-focused well-being. Study 2 demonstrated that reduced work-focused well-being links workaholism and heart anxiety to higher turnover intentions. Consistent with COR theory, multiple simultaneous stressors compounded resource loss for employees in both occupations. Together, these findings highlight the importance of considering both work-related and health-related stressors in understanding employees resource depletion and work-related outcomes.