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Defining the Border Between Workaholism and Work Addiction: a Systematic Review

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Abstract

The aim of this review is to define a conceptual border between workaholism and work addiction. Five online databases (ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, Academic Search Complete, Emerald Insight, and APA PsycArticles) were used to search for scientific papers. The search was limited to the papers published between 2007 and 2021. Seventy-nine papers published during the period from 2008 to 2021 were included in the systematic review. Most of the authors who attributed workaholism to the group of addictions described it as a state of being overly concerned about work, driven by an uncontrollable work motivation and investing much time and effort into work that leads to negative consequences. Seven symptoms (salience, tolerance, mood modification, conflict, withdrawal, relapse, and problems) were proposed as key aspects comprising the phenomenon. The authors who described workaholism as a behavioral pattern or a personal characteristic mainly defined it as a tendency to work excessively in a compulsive way and explained the phenomenon in terms of aspects of excessive and compulsive work. In this way, two separate phenomena of workaholism and work addiction emerged which had their own definitions and specific features.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Vytautas Magnus University, Jonavos str. 66, 44191, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Modesta Morkevičiūtė & Auksė Endriulaitienė

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  1. Modesta Morkevičiūtė
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  2. Auksė Endriulaitienė
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Modesta Morkevičiūtė performed a collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; wrote a paper; and prepared it for submission. Auksė Endriulaitienė collected the data and critically revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Modesta Morkevičiūtė.

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Morkevičiūtė, M., Endriulaitienė, A. Defining the Border Between Workaholism and Work Addiction: a Systematic Review. Int J Ment Health Addiction 21, 2813–2823 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00757-6

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