Workaholism in organizations: concepts, results and future research directions

Abstract

This review examines the literature on workaholism in organizations. Although the topic of workaholism has received considerable attention in the popular press, relatively little research has been devoted to increasing our understanding of it. Workaholism is acknowledged to be a stable individual characteristic, though how it is distinguished from other characteristics is often unclear. The review addresses the following areas: types of workaholics, definitions of workaholism, measures of workaholism, the prevalence of workaholism, validating job behaviors, antecedents of workaholism, work outcome consequences, health consequences, extra‐work satisfactions and family functioning, evaluating workaholism components, possible gender differences, reducing workaholism and future research directions. Research programs begun by Robinson and his colleagues and by Spence and Robbins, though having different emphases, serve as useful starting points for future research efforts.