Workaholism as Discretionary Time Investment at Work: An Experience‐Sampling Study

Abstract

Adopting an operational definition of workaholism as discretionary investment of considerable time at work, the purpose of the present study was to test hypotheses regarding the cognitive aspect of workaholism, as well as the positive and negative/addictive views of this construct. The study employed an experience-sampling method (ESM), using a sample of 65 full-time employees who completed the ESM forms at four random times during the day for one week. Results indicated that workaholism was associated with continued cognitive engagement with work, accompanied by a preference for work over leisure activity and higher positive affect during work activity than during leisure activity. No significant differences were found between workaholics and non-workaholics with regard to the likelihood of performing work-related activities during leisure activity, or in the levels of physical discomfort and negative affect during the weekend. These results highlight the utility of an operational framework for studying the variety of workaholism correlates. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.A partir d'une définition opérationnelle de l'addiction au travail comme étant un investissement sans contrôle d'un temps considérable consacré au travail, cette recherche s'est donné comme objectif de mettre à l'épreuve des hypothèses relatives à la dimension cognitive de l'addiction au travail, ainsi que les aspects positifs et négatifs (addictifs) de ce concept. Cette recherche a exploité la méthode de l'échantillonnage des expériences (ESM) à partir d'un échantillon composé de 65 salariés à plein-temps qui ont rempli la feuille de recueil des données quatre fois par jour au hasard pendant une semaine. Les résultats ont montré que l'addiction au travail était liée à un engagement cognitif permanent vis-à-vis du travail, associé à une plus forte attirance pour le travail que pour les loisirs et à un état affectif plus fortement positif lors du travail qu'à l'occasion des activités de loisirs. On n'a pas trouvé de différences significatives entre les drogués du travail et les autres en ce qui concerne la probabilité de

Being engaged at work and detached at home: A week-level study on work engagement, psychological detachment, and affect

“…This finding is in line with earlier research on work engagement and workaholism Snir & Zohar, 2008) and demonstrates that work engagement can be differentiated from a compulsive need to work. High engagement at work does not imply that one stays mentally attached to one's work during off-job time.…”

“…This should be particularly the case when intense preoccupation with job-related thoughts and activities continues after the end of the (formal) working day Snir & Zohar, 2008). Specifically, we argue that a lack of detaching oneself psychologically from work during off-job time is related negatively to positive affect and related positively to negative affect at the end of the working week.…”

Gaining the insight of workaholism, its nature and its outcome: A literature review

“…Working excessively pertains to actual behavior that is workaholics give a huge amount of time on work-related activities when they get the opportunity to do so (Snir & Harpaz, 2006;Snir & Zohar, 2008). As mentioned previously this can be up to 50 hours a week or more (Brett & Stroh, 2003;Burke, 2001a).…”

A study on the effect of workaholism on human resource productivity: A case study of managers of East Azerbaijan Water and Waste Water Company

“…According to Snir (2008), workaholism is the individual's continuous and considerable dedication of time to work-related activities and thoughts and it is measured as time invested in work or cognitive considerable allocation of time to work related activities. In other definition, workaholism is defined as obsessive dedication of time to work related activities and thoughts.…”