Abstract:
Despite the large body of research that has been conducted examining the antecedents and consequences of work addiction, issues remain regarding the measurement and conceptualisation of workaholism as an addiction. Recently, the Work Craving Scale (WCS, Wojdylo, Baumann, Buczny, Owens, & Kuhl, 2013) was developed in attempts to amend these issues. Using a reverse-translation method the WCS was translated from Polish to English. To validate the English version of the WCS, an online survey was conducted (N=133). The relationships between work craving, academic locus of control, life satisfaction and a novel scale, the Perceptions of Work Addiction (PWS) were also examined. The factor structure of the WCS was not identical to that to the original study. At the bivariate level work craving was not correlated with life satisfaction; however this correlation became apparent in the mediation analysis. Work craving was positively correlated with internal academic locus of control and positive perceptions of work addiction. Positive perceptions of work addiction mediated the relationship between work craving and decreased life satisfaction. The findings demonstrate the importance of assessing perceptions in relation to work addiction and how they can affect the outcomes of addiction.