Since the early 1970s, there have been concrete and strong testimonies to the centrality of work in people’s lives, much beyond being only an economical consideration. The experience of working is vastly more important than the job itself which explains why many of us devote most of our waking hours to work, beyond any other human activity. Recently, there has been a considerable increase in the time invested in work, also as a by-product of the greater accessibility to technology and industrial competition. Regardless of this trend, research has found individual differences in the devotion of time to work. One of the pioneering works that tried to address those differences was Oates’ research on workaholism in 1971. Since then, both academically and commonly used, workaholism was the prominent representation of Heavy-Work Investment.
This concept of Heavy-Work Investment (HWI) was first introduced by Snir and Harpaz in 2012. It encompasses working long hours and putting a lot of effort (both, physical and mental) at work. In 2015, Snir and Harpaz proposed that HWI mediates between its different predictors (such as job engagement, addiction to work, financial needs, employer demands, etc.) and individual-wise outcomes (such as health, work satisfaction, etc.), with potential moderators (such as job type, fairness, etc.).
This phenomenon of HWI is prevalent in cultures around the world, as documented by Amagasa, Nakayama & Takahashi in Asia, by Fein, Skinner & Machin in Australia, and by Shamar, Harpaz & Snir in Europe among others.
However, this phenomenon raises an interesting and important question: is it good or bad for the organization and its workers? Results on this are mixed.
Therefore, the main objective of this Research Topic is to encourage discussion regarding this important phenomenon of HWI and to better understand its nature. We welcome research-based articles that are focusing on the various aspects of HWI.
Since the early 1970s, there have been concrete and strong testimonies to the centrality of work in people’s lives, much beyond being only an economical consideration. The experience of working is vastly more important than the job itself which explains why many of us devote most of our waking hours to work, beyond any other human activity. Recently, there has been a considerable increase in the time invested in work, also as a by-product of the greater accessibility to technology and industrial competition. Regardless of this trend, research has found individual differences in the devotion of time to work. One of the pioneering works that tried to address those differences was Oates’ research on workaholism in 1971. Since then, both academically and commonly used, workaholism was the prominent representation of Heavy-Work Investment.
This concept of Heavy-Work Investment (HWI) was first introduced by Snir and Harpaz in 2012. It encompasses working long hours and putting a lot of effort (both, physical and mental) at work. In 2015, Snir and Harpaz proposed that HWI mediates between its different predictors (such as job engagement, addiction to work, financial needs, employer demands, etc.) and individual-wise outcomes (such as health, work satisfaction, etc.), with potential moderators (such as job type, fairness, etc.).
This phenomenon of HWI is prevalent in cultures around the world, as documented by Amagasa, Nakayama & Takahashi in Asia, by Fein, Skinner & Machin in Australia, and by Shamar, Harpaz & Snir in Europe among others.
However, this phenomenon raises an interesting and important question: is it good or bad for the organization and its workers? Results on this are mixed.
Therefore, the main objective of this Research Topic is to encourage discussion regarding this important phenomenon of HWI and to better understand its nature. We welcome research-based articles that are focusing on the various aspects of HWI.