Predicting workaholism in Spain: a discrete mathematical model

At the present time one of the most 'desirable' behavioural addictions that any person could develop is workaholism, a negative psychological state characterized by working excessively and compulsively. In our society, the successful person is one who spends all of their time working. Moreover, a common pattern of company management consists of stressing and putting pressure on employees to achieve the maximum profit. This trend has increased with the economic crisis in Spain and over the world. As a consequence, the terms hard working and workaholism are easily confounded, but their effects on the companies are highly different in terms of productivity. This paper proposes a discrete mathematical model to forecast the development of workaholism in Spain in the next years. A questionnaire is used in order to measure and classify our sample in subpopulations by their level of addiction. Then, different economic scenarios are simulated. 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The dark side of technologies: Technostress among users of information and communication technologies

This paper tests the structure and the predictors of two psychological experiences of technostress associated with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), i.e., technostrain (users report feelings of anxiety, fatigue, scepticism and inefficacy beliefs related to the use of technologies) and technoaddiction (users feel bad due to an excessive and compulsive use of these technologies). The study included a sample of 1072 ICT users (N = 675 nonintensive ICT users and N = 397 intensive ICT users). Results from multigroup confirmatory factor analyses among non-intensive and intensive ICT users showed, as expected, the four-factor structure of technostrain in both samples. Secondly, and also as expected, confirmatory factorial analyses revealed that technostress experiences are characterized not only by technostrain but also by an excessive and compulsive use of ICT. Moreover, multiple analyses of variance showed significant differences between non-intensive and intensive ICT users (1) in the dimensions of technostress and (2) in specific job demands and job/personal resources. Finally, linear multiple regression analyses revealed that technostrain is positively predicted by work overload, role ambiguity, emotional overload, mobbing and obstacles hindering ICT use, as well as by lack of autonomy, transformational leadership, social support, ICT use facilitators and mental competences. Work overload, role ambiguity and mobbing, as well as the lack of emotional competences, positively predict technoaddiction. Theoretical and practical implications, in addition to future research, are discussed

Validity of a brief workaholism scale

The current study contributes to our understanding of workaholism as a negative construct, and to its measurement by examining the psychometric properties of a short 10-item workaholism scale called DUWAS (Dutch Work Addiction Scale). Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out in a heterogeneous sample of 2,714 employees from the Netherlands (n= 2,164) and Spain (n= 550). The results confirmed the expected two-factor structure of workaholism: working excessively and working compulsively. Moreover, multi-group analyses showed that this two-factor structure was invariant across both countries. Lastly, negative correlations among workaholism and psychosocial well-being (i.e., perceived health and happiness) are indicators of the negative nature of workaholism.status: publishe

Four Types of Well-being among Entrepreneurs and Their Relationships with Business Performance

Four types of affective well-being were investigated in a sample of 135 Dutch entrepreneurs: work engagement, job satisfaction, exhaustion and workaholism. Compared to employees, entrepreneurs score extremely high on work engagement. Scores on job satisfaction, exhaustion and working compulsively (CW) are also higher. Scores on working excessively (EW) are lower. When investigating the overlap between the four types of well-being, results were found to vary with the approach chosen. When analysing correlations, overlap appears especially high between workaholism and exhaustion. When analysing cases identified as high scorers, overlap is especially evident between entrepreneurs high on both work engagement and job satisfaction. A final issue studied concerned the relation between well-being and performance