ABSTRACT Benjamin B. Uhrich. BEYOND JUST HOURS WORKED
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ABSTRACT Benjamin B. Uhrich. BEYOND JUST HOURS WORKED: FURTHER VALIDATION OF THE WORKAHOLISM ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE. (Under the direction of Dr. Shahnaz Aziz) Department of Psychology, April 2011. The purpose of this study was to validate a new measure of workaholism, the Workaholism Analysis Questionnaire (WAQ), which was developed to address the methodological flaws of existing measures. The WAQ is a unidimensional measure that focuses on the work drive component of workaholism and its effect on work-life balance. The current study used a heterogeneous, working-professional sample to ensure the generalizability of the results. The WAQ‟s content validity was displayed when 14 graduate students discerned the 30 WAQ items from a pool of 40 items 89% of the time. In addition, the WAQ demonstrated discriminant validity by not correlating well with unrelated constructs, namely, the affective commitment and normative commitment subscales of Allen and Meyer‟s (1990) Three- Component Model of organizational commitment. Also, the WAQ showed concurrent validity by correlating well with a related construct, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). Finally, convergent validity was seen in that the WAQ correlated well with the Work Addiction Risk Test (WART), an existing and psychometrically sound measure of workaholism. In addition, a hierarchical regression analysis found that the WAQ explained incremental variance in OCPD beyond the WART. The development and validation of the WAQ is a substantial step in the right direction towards creating a unified definition of workaholism, as well as developing a reliable and valid measure for assessment purposes. Study limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications of this study are discussed. BEYOND JUST HOURS WORKED: FURTHER VALIDATION OF THE WORKAHOLISM ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE A Thesis Proposal Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Psychology East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology by Benjamin Uhrich April 7th, 2011 © Copyright 2011 Benjamin B. Uhrich BEYOND JUST HOURS WORKED: FURTHER VALIDATION OF THE WORKAHOLISM ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE by Benjamin B. Uhrich ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis chair, Dr. Shahnaz Aziz, for her dedication to this project. Throughout its completion, Shahnaz has been encouraging, organized and quick to provide feedback–very quick. This project would not have been completed on schedule without her guidance and sense of urgency. I could not have asked for a better committee chair and mentor. I would also like to thank Dr. Karl Wuensch for his patience and thoughtfulness when giving statistical advice and Dr. Lisa Baranik for her support and wisdom, both on the project and in other matters. Lastly, I want to thank my mother for her advice and encouragement during the tough time in which this project was completed. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...1 Workaholism as an Addiction………………………………………………………........3 The Workaholism Battery…………………………………………………………….….5 The Work Addiction Risk Test…………………………………………………………..9 Organizational Commitment……………………………………………………………..12 Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder…………………………………………….15 Current Study………………………………………………………………...…………. 18 Study Hypotheses………………………………………………………………...………18 Hypothesis 1a……………………………………………………………...……..19 Hypothesis 1b………………………………………………………………...…..19 Hypothesis 1c………………………………………………………………….....19 Hypothesis 2a…………………………………………………………………….19 Hypothesis 2b……………………………………………………………………19 Hypothesis 3……………………………………………………………………..19 CHAPTER II: METHOD………………………………………………………………………..20 Participants……………………………………………………………………………….20 Procedure…………………………………………………………………………...……21 Measures…………………………………………………………………………………22 The Work Addiction Risk Test (WART)…………………………………...……22 The Workaholism Analysis Questionnaire (WAQ)…………………………..….22 Organizational Commitment……………………………………………..………23 Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder……………………………...……..23 Demographics………………………………………………………………..............…..24 Data Analysis…………………………………….……..……………………………………….25 CHAPTER III: RESULTS………………………………………………………………………27 Item Analysis…………………………………………………………………………….27 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations…………………………………………………..28 Regression Analyses……………………………………………………………………..29 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION……………………………………..……………………………34 Workaholism and Organizational Commitment……………..…………………………..35 Workaholism and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder…..…………………….37 The WAQ and the WART……………………………………………………………….40 The WAQ, the WART, and Hours Worked per Week………………..…………………40 Study Limitations and Future Research…………………………………..……………..41 Practical Implications…………………………………………………………………….43 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………..…………..45 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..…………47 APPENDIX A: IRB MATERIALS……………………………………………………….……..58 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Classification of Worker Types…………………………………..……………………6 Table 2: Correlations and Descriptives (N = 188)……………………………………………….29 Table 3: Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting OCPD from Age, the WART, and the WAQ…………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Table 4. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting OCPD from Age, the WAQ, and the WART……………………………………………………………………………..…………….31 Table 5. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting OCPD from Age, the WART, and Hours Worked per Week………………………………………………………………………..………32 Table 6. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting OCPD from Age, the WAQ, and Hours Worked per Week…………………………………………………………………………..……33 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION When most people hear the word workaholism, the next word that enters into their minds is alcoholism. This is undoubtedly the association that Oates (1971) wanted the reader of his book, “Confessions of a Workaholic,” to draw when he described workaholism as “the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly” (p. 11). Oates elaborates by suggesting that workaholism can permanently disturb health, happiness, and relationships. This definition of workaholism implies a connection to alcoholism by pointing out its addictive nature. As our understanding of workaholism has increased in breadth and complexity, its ties to alcoholism have only strengthened. Researchers have demonstrated commonalities between the two constructs by showing that workaholism can lead to the neglect of other interests, identity issues, rigid thinking, withdrawal, and denial (Porter, 1996). Even though we still cannot clearly define everything that constitutes workaholism, it appears to be a multidimensional construct, consisting of high job involvement, high work drive, and low work enjoyment. In the medical field, a syndrome describes a group of symptoms that consistently occur together, but the full picture of the condition is still ambiguous (Haubrich, 1984; Macpherson, 2004). When the three facets of workaholism occur together, they consistently lead to negative work outcomes and health consequences (Burke, 2001; Spence & Robbins, 1992), thus qualifying workaholism as a syndrome (Aziz & Zickar, 2006). In the current study, the workaholism syndrome is conceptualized as an addiction. Furthermore, workaholics have a compulsion to work and cannot stop thinking about work, to the point that they neglect personal/family activities and experience negative health and work-related consequences. In brief, workaholics have an intense, internal drive to work that leads to a neglect of other interests and negative consequences. In agreement with this definition, the drive component and work-life balance will serve as the foundation for a new measure of workaholism, the Work Analysis Questionnaire (WAQ). The term workaholism has become very popular in the media. Despite the positive connotation that society tends to associate with workaholism, as well as its connection to the accepted illness of alcoholism, there has been very little empirical research on the topic. Several reasons for this neglect are thematic in the workaholism literature. First, researchers have failed to agree on a unified definition for workaholism (Buelens & Poelmans, 2004; Burke, 2001; Scott, Moore, & Miceli, 1997). This disagreement is especially true in regards to the dimensions of workaholism (i.e., work involvement, work drive, and work enjoyment) first proposed by Spence and Robbins (1992), which have served as the unsteady core of workaholism since their derivation. Secondly, the most commonly used measures of workaholism are methodologically flawed. Given that there is no consensus in regards to the dimensions that form the crux of workaholism, measures of workaholism are often criticized for their lack of validity and reliability (Ersoy-Kart, 2005; McMillan, Brady, O‟Driscoll, & March, 2002). Lastly, researchers have not been able to impress upon society that the behavioral component of workaholism, working excessively, can lead to negative outcomes. Instead, organizations prefer that their employees work longer hours, which presumably leads to financial gains for both the organization and the employee. Spruell (1987) adds that work addiction is “the addiction most rewarded in our culture” (p. 44). If workaholism does not result in a decrease in employee productiveness, researchers will have a challenging time convincing organizations that its study is necessary. In a previous study (Swords, Aziz, Walker, & Wuensch, 2008), the Work Analysis Questionnaire (WAQ) was developed in order to address the problems