The assessment of heavy work investment: Psychometric properties of the WI-10 on a sample of Israeli workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Heavy Work Investment (HWI) is a construct that covers both positive and negative behaviors characterized by a high investment of time and energy in working (work engagement and workaholism, respectively). In the literature, it has been introduced, recently, the Work-related Inventory (WI-10) that allows evaluating four types of worker, three of which are HWIs: disengaged workaholics, engaged workaholics, engaged workers, and detached workers. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to validate the Hebrew WI-10 on Israeli workers. METHODS: We recruited a convenient sample of 459 workers (about half females and half males) with a mean age of 37.12±10.33. We performed Confirmatory Factor Analysis, convergent and divergent validity analyses. Finally, we calculated the cut-off scores corresponding to high and low workaholism and work engagement. RESULTS: We found support for the 10-item (2 filler) and 2-factor structure (Workaholism and Work Engagement) of the WI-10, as well as for its good psychometric properties. CONCLUSIONS: The WI-10 may be used in future research aimed at disentangling the question about the positive and adverse effects that might be associated with different types of HWI.