Workaholism Scales: Some Challenges Ahead

Abstract

Although extensively used in the academic literature, workaholism as a concept has been explained in different ways, which has influenced the development and use of some measurement tools. As such, this article aims to address the subject through a systematic study review focusing on articles where the main objective was to develop, adapt, or analyze the psychometric properties of a workaholism scale. The main purpose is to describe the state of the art concerning workaholism measurement tools, highlighting trends and research perspectives for further research. In essence, this study may serve as a summary and starting point for scholars interested in measuring workaholism. It was observed that the discrepancy concerning the definition of workaholism has resulted in scales that attempt to evaluate diverging conceptualizations. Moreover, each scale has been readapted when tested in different countries. For further investigations, it is important to converge the concept of workaholism and validate the scales across differing contexts, regarding the industry, culture, and country of the sample.