Research Companion to Working Time and Work Addiction

by Ronald J. Burke

Overview

This Research Companion examines the effects of work hours on individual and family well-being and questions why people work hard and whether some can work too hard. It integrates contributions from two areas of research - work hours and work addiction - that have historically been pursued separately.

Ronald Burke argues that while work hours have decreased for blue-collar workers, they have increased for professionals and managers, particularly in developed countries. He reveals that some employees need to work long hours while others do so willingly: people work long hours to meet individual needs and due to societal incentives such as materialism and consumerism. The book concludes that working long hours is only part of the story; why one works long hours and how one works these long hours emerge as powerful factors in determining the link between hours worked and well-being. The volume also includes recommendations for addressing a long hours culture at individual, family, organizational, community and societal levels.

Academics, students, researchers and policymakers with an interest in human resource management, work hours and work addiction and their effects will find this highly original Companion to be a fascinating rea

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845424084
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	01/28/2007
Series:	New Horizons in Management series
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Edited by the late Ronald J. Burke, formerly Professor Emeritus, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada

Table of Contents

Contents:

Preface

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Work Hours and Work Addiction
Ronald J. Burke

2. How Long? The Historical, Economic and Cultural Factors Behind Working Hours and Overwork
Lonnie Golden

PART II: DEFINITION AND CONSEQUENCES OF WORKAHOLISM
3. The Workaholic Breakdown Syndrome
Barbara Killinger

4. Exploring New Frontiers to Generate an Integrated Definition of Workaholism
Lynley H.W. McMillan and Michael P. O’Driscoll

5. Understanding Workaholism: The Case for Behavioral Tendencies
Peter E. Mudrack

PART III: ANTECEDENTS AND TYPES OF WORKAHOLICS
6. Making Sense of Temporal Organizational Boundary Control
Graeme MacDermid

7. Economic and Employment Conditions, Karoshi (Work to Death) and the Trend of Studies on Workaholism in Japan
Atsuko Kanai

8. Workaholic Types: It’s Not How Hard You Work but Why and How You Work Hard
Ronald J. Burke

9. Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde? On the Differences between Work Engagement and Workaholism
Wilmar B. Schaufeli, Toon W. Taris and Arnold B. Bakker

PART IV: ADDRESSING WORK HOURS AND WORKAHOLISM
10. ‘Decent Working Time’: Balancing the Needs of Workers and Employers
Jon C. Messenger

11. The Unlikely Referral of Workaholics to an Employee Assistance Program
Gayle Porter and Robert A. Herring III

12. Career Success and Personal Failure: A Developing Need to Find Balance
Ronald J. Burke and Teal McAteer-Early

13. Exploring Career and Personal Outcomes and the Meaning of Career Success Among Part-time Professionals in Organizations
Mary Dean Lee, Pamela Lirio, Fahri Karakas, Shelley M. MacDermid, Michelle L. Buck and Ellen Ernst Kossek

14. Improving Work–Life Balance: REBT for Workaholic Treatment
Charles P. Chen

15. Spiritual Leadership Theory as a Source for Future Theory, Research, and Recovery for Workaholism
Louis W. Fry, Laura L. Matherly and Steve Vitucci

Index

Editorial Reviews

'The Research Companion to Working Time and Work Addiction captures the essence and intricacies of an important and fascinating topic. It explores the body of writing on work-hours that until this book existed quite separately from literature on work addiction. As can be expected from the breadth of his knowledge and the consistent quality of his work, Ronald J. Burke has done a terrific job of editing a book that presents work addiction and working time in a way that is both scientifically sound and engaging. The twenty four contributors have done an excellent job of extending and refining our understanding of work addiction and working time in this collection of excellent conceptual and empirical chapters. This book is a must for all scholars and practitioners who are interested in this fascinating aspect of work life.'

Ayala Malach-Pines

'Ronald Burke has put together a collection of state-of-the-art research and writing about work hours and work addiction from around the world. This book is essential reading for academics, managers, human resource professionals and anyone else interested in identifying types of work addiction, learning about antecedents and consequences of workaholism, as well as how to help people achieve work-life balance. The contributions from top notch researchers and academics in the field provide a rounded view of how the interplay between career aspirations, work motivation and working conditions contribute to health outcomes and effectiveness at work.'

Astrid M. Richardsen

'This book is overdue. Someone, somewhere, a long time ago, should have put this book together, because its value is incalculable. The pace of change in the workplace has vastly increased, and workers see their jobs as more complex and fragmented. What is the prognosis? Where is it all going? What can be done about it? If anything? This book is more a "handbook" than a research companion, on all those aspects of the workplace that touch on or represent change, pace, workload, work addiction, work-life balance, job satisfaction, job involvement, stress, conflict, values, Type A behaviour and other personality disorders. What's more, it delves into some of the more unknown elements of these aspects of work, in different countries. Read it. You'll not be disappointed.'

Janice Langan-Fox

'This is an excellent and unique book which not only addresses the detrimental effects of long working hours and work addiction, but also investigates the causes and treatment of workaholism. An outstanding volume which includes both conceptual and empirical chapters from distinguished academics and practitioners from several countries. This is essential reading for all those interested in health and well-being in the workplace and the establishment of satisfactory home and work-life balances. The editor should be congratulated for this groundbreaking book.'

Marilyn J. Davidson

‘This is a timely and needed book for all professionals who have concerns about issues related to quality of life and well-being. This book is an original piece prepared by a team of international experts, written in an informative and scholarly manner, and presents in an effective form the accumulated wealth of knowledge on the theme. This is a solid book that can satisfy both the academic readership and the professional community. I truly and sincerely recommend it. It is a must for people who are interested in this subject.’

Simon Dolan