Background: Empirical evidence suggests that low self-esteem and high perfectionism
are significant personality correlates of work addiction, but the mechanisms underlying
these relationships are still unclear. Consequently, exploring cognitive mechanisms
will help to better understand work addiction. For instance, rumination is one of
the under-researched topics in work addiction, although it may explain specific thinking
processes of work-addicted individuals. The purpose of the study was to test the mediating
role of maladaptive rumination (i.e., brooding) in the relationship between personality
and addiction. Methods: In a largescale cross-sectional, unrepresentative, online
study, 4340 adults with a current job participated. The following psychometric instruments
were used: Work Addiction Risk Test Revised, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Multidimensional
Perfectionism Scale, and Ruminative Response Scale. Results: It was found that self-oriented
perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and self-esteem had both direct
and indirect relationships with work addiction via the mediating effect of maladaptive
rumination. The two paths involving brooding explained 44% of the direct relationship.
Conclusions: The study demonstrated that brooding type of rumination as a putatively
maladaptive strategy explains why individuals characterized by low self-esteem and
high perfectionism may have a higher risk of work addiction. The results suggest that
cognitive-affective mechanisms in work addiction are similar to those found in other
addictive disorders.
