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Hindi Review Article
Workaholism: A Review
Steve Sussman*Departments of Preventive Medicine and Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Steve Sussman
Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research
University of Southern California
Soto Street Building, 2001 North Soto Street
Room 302A, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
Tel: 323-442-8220
Cell phone: 626-376-0389
Fax: 626-442-8201
E-mail: ssussma@usc.edu
Received November 04, 2011; Accepted January 05, 2012; Published January 10, 2012
Citation: Sussman S (2012) Workaholism: A Review. J Addict Res Ther S6:001. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.S6-001
Copyright: © 20112 Sussman S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
In this review, I examine the defi nition, etiology, measurement, prevention and treatment of workaholism, based on a systematic search of the literature. While there is some debate regarding the parameters of the concept, viewed as a negative consequential addiction, workaholism involves excessive time spent working, preoccupation with work to the exclusion of other life domains, loss of control over the parameters of one’s work and disenchantment with work, and negative social, emotional, and health consequences. The etiology of workaholism is not clear but may pertain to persons with compulsive personality traits, who are driven to work harder than that demanded from work contexts, and who have learned to place work as a main means of gratifi cation compared to other lifestyle alternatives. Most measurement approaches rely on self-report questionnaires, tested primarily with convenience samples. Refi nement of current assessments is ongoing. Prevention and treatment implications are discussed, which include intra- and extra- personal level approaches. Finally, limitations of the work completed in this arena are mentioned and needed future research directions are suggested.
