Cross-Cultural Differences Concerning Heavy Work Investment

Abstract

The study makes a cross-cultural comparison of heavy work investment, as well as its dispositional and situational types, based on data gathered through representative national samples of the adult population in twenty countries ( N = 25,962). We have found that work investment is heavier in societies where survival values are important, as compared to societies where self-expression values are important. Situational heavy work investors are more common in societies where survival values are important, as compared to societies where self-expression values are important. However, work-devoted persons are more common in societies where self-expression values are important, as compared to societies where survival values are important. It was also found that work investment is heavier in societies where mastery value is high, as compared to societies where mastery value is low. Dispositional heavy work investors are more common in societies where mastery value is high, as compared to societies where mastery value is low. Finally, it was found that men work more hours per week as compared to women in both masculine and feminine societies. However, the gender difference concerning time investment at work is greater in masculine societies, as compared to feminine societies. Dispositional heavy work investors are more common among men in masculine societies, than among men in feminine societies. The fact that the magnitude of work investment and the prevalence of its types vary in different cultural contexts demonstrate the importance of differentiating between types of heavy work investment; namely, realizing that not every heavy work investor is a workaholic.

Engaged, Workaholic, Burned‐Out or Just 9‐to‐5? Toward a Typology of Employee Well‐being

“…This finding supports and extends the existing literature about work investment, which deals mainly with two types of dispositional heavy work investors: workaholics and work-devoted persons (Snir & Harpaz, 2009. This last type of heavy worker is similar to our work-engaged employees.…”

“…In line with previous research on work investment (Snir & Harpaz, 2009, we will try to understand employee well-being patterns in relation to two kinds of work investors, depending on the hours that are worked: heavy work investors (i.e. longer hours worked) and soft work investors (i.e.…”

“…Finally, two major types of heavy work investment can be distinguished following Snir and Harpaz (, ): (1) situational, which stems from external and uncontrollable factors, such as basic financial needs (food and accommodation), job demands, employer/supervisor demands or organizational culture; and (2) dispositional, which stems from personal (or internal) characteristics. In this study, the heavy work investment of all employees is considered to be dispositional because they are all full‐time workers.…”

A heavy work investment typology: a biopsychosocial framework

“…historical, political) and individual and personal trajectories (e.g. interpersonal relationships) Snir and Harpaz, 2009a). The individual is viewed as a recipient of those external factors, while the context can act as a determiner, a moderator, and a mediator of behavior (Sorensen et al, 2003).…”

“…Workaholism is an addiction or compulsion to work (Oates, 1971), but researchers note that it manifests in different ways so is not necessarily compulsive in nature (Oates, 1971;Naughton, 1987;Spence and Robbins, 1992). HWI is the devotion of a considerable amount of time, attention, and energy to work (Snir and Harpaz, 2009a). HWI may sometimes be compulsive and manifest as workaholism, and may at other times be driven by situational factors Harpaz, 2006, 2009a).…”