The relationship between study addiction and work addiction: a cross-cultural longitudinal study

Abstract

Recent empirical studies investigating “study addiction” have conceptualized it as a behavioral addiction, defined within the framework of work addiction. This study is the first attempt to examine the longitudinal relationship between study addiction and work addiction. Methods: The Bergen Study Addiction Scale (BStAS), the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS), and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory were administered online together with questions concerning demographics and study-related variables in two waves. In Wave 1, a total of 2,559 students in Norway and 2,177 students in Poland participated. A year later, in Wave 2, 379 Norwegians and 401 Polish who began to work professionally completed the survey. Results: The intraclass correlation between BStAS and BWAS revealed that the scores were somewhat related; however, the relationship was slightly weaker than the temporal stability of both constructs. In the Norwegian sample, scoring higher on neuroticism and lower on learning time outside educational classes in Wave 1 was positively related to work addiction in Wave 2, whereas gender was unrelated to work addiction in Wave 2 when controlling for other studied variables in either samples. Conclusion: Study addiction and work addiction appear to be closely related suggesting that the former may be a precursor for (or an early form of) the latter