The International Work Addiction Scale (IWAS): A screening tool for clinical and organizational applications validated in 85 cultures from six continents

Charzyńska E 1 , Buźniak A 2 , Czerwiński SK 2 , Woropay-Hordziejewicz N 2 , Schneider Z 3 , Aavik T 4 Show all authors , Adamowic M 5 , Adams BG 6 , Al-Mahjoob SM 7 , Almoshawah SAS 8 , Arrowsmith J 9 , Asatsa S 10 , Austin S 11 , Aziz S 12 , Bakker AB 13 , Balducci C 14 , Barros E 15 , Bălțătescu S 16 , Bdier D 17 , Bhatia N 18 , Bilic S 19 , Boer D 20 , Caspi A 21 , Chaleeraktrakoon T 22 , Chan CIM 23 , Chien CJ 24 , Choi HS 25 , Choubisa R 26 , Clark M 27 , Čekrlija Đ 28 , Demetrovics Z 29 , Dervishi E 30 , de Zoysa P 31 , Domínguez Espinosa ADC 32 , Dragova-Koleva S 33 , Efstathiou V 34 , Fernandez ME 35 , Fernet C 11 , Gadelrab HF 36 , Gamsakhurdia V 37 , Garðarsdóttir RB 38 , Garrido LE 39 , Gillet N 40 , Gonçalves SP 41 , Griffiths MD 42 , Hakobyan NR 43 , Halim FW 44 , Hansenne M 45 , Hasan BB 46 , Herttalampi M 47 , Hlatywayo CK 48 , Hromatko I 49 , Igou ER 50 , Iliško D 51 , Isayeva U 52 , Ismail HN 53 , Jensen DH 54 , Kakupa P 55 , Kamble S 56 , Kerriche A 57 , Kubicek B 58 , Kugbey N 59 , Kun B 29 , Lee JH 60 , Lisá E 61 , Lisun Y 62 , Lupano Perugini ML 63 , Marcatto F 64 , Maslovarić B 65 , Massoudi K 66 , McFarlane TA 67 , Mgaiwa SJ 68 , Moosavi Jahanabad ST 69 , Moreta-Herrera R 70 , Nguyen HTM 71 , Ohtsubo Y 72 , Özsoy T 73 , Øvergård KI 74 , Pallesen S 75 , Parker J 9 , Plohl N 76 , Pontes HM 77 , Potter R 78 , Roe A 79 , Samekin A 80 , Schulmeyer MK 81 , Seisembekov TZ 82 , Serrano-Fernández MJ 83 , Shahrour G 84 , Matić JS 85 , Sobhie R 86 , Spagnoli P 87 , Story J 88 , Sullman MJM 89 , Sultanova L 90 , Sun R 91 , Suryani AO 92 , Sussman S 93 , Teng-Calleja M 94 , Torales J 95 , Vera Cruz G 96 , Wu AMS 91 , Yang X 97 , Zabrodska K 98 , Ziedelis A 99 , Atroszko PA 2

Affiliations 

  • 1 1Institute of Psychology, Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
  • 2 2Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
  • 3 3Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
  • 4 4Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
  • 5 5Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations, King's Business School, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 6 6Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 7 9Psychology Department, College of Arts, University of Bahrain, Sakhir, Bahrain
  • 8 10Research Center, Medical Cities Program-MOI, Saudi Arabia
  • 9 11School of Management, College of Business, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
  • 10 12The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 11 13Department of Human Resources Management, Business School, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada
  • 12 14Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
  • 13 15Center of Excellence for Positive Organizational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • 14 17Department of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy
  • 15 18School of Business, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
  • 16 19University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania
  • 17 20Psychology and Counseling Department, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine
  • 18 22Department of Business Administration, School of Management Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, India
  • 19 23Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, International Balkan University, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
  • 20 24Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz, Koblenz, Germany
  • 21 25Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana, Israel
  • 22 26Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Psychology, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 23 27Department of Management and Marketing, University of Macau, Macao, China
  • 24 28College of Management, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan
  • 25 29Department of Psychology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 26 30Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India
  • 27 31Department of Psychology, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
  • 28 32Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • 29 34Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
  • 30 37Pedagogy and Psychology Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
  • 31 38Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 32 39Psychology Department, Ibero-American University, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 33 40Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 34 41Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • 35 42Department of Psychology, Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UCU), Montevideo, Uruguay
  • 36 44Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait
  • 37 46Department of Psychology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • 38 47University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
  • 39 48School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  • 40 49QualiPsy UR 1901, Université de Tours, Tours, France
  • 41 51Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa (ISCSP-ULisboa), Lisboa, Portugal
  • 42 53International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
  • 43 54International Scientific-Educational Center, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
  • 44 55Research Centre for Psychology and Human Well-being, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
  • 45 56Department of Psychology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
  • 46 57College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wasit University, Al-Kut, Iraq
  • 47 58Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
  • 48 59University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
  • 49 60Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 50 61Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland
  • 51 62Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia
  • 52 63Psychology Department, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • 53 64Adnan Kassar School of Business - AACSB Accredited, Department of Management Studies, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 54 65Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 55 66School of Education, The University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
  • 56 67Department of Psychology, Karnatak University Dharwad, Dharwad, India
  • 57 68Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychometrics and Psychological Studies Laboratory, University of Blida 2, El Affroun, Algeria
  • 58 69Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 59 70School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, Ghana
  • 60 71Department of Psychology, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN, United States
  • 61 72Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • 62 73Department of Journalism and Advertising, State University of Trade and Economics, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 63 74National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 64 77Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
  • 65 78Faculty of Philosophy Nikšić, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
  • 66 79Institute of Psychology of the University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 67 80Department of Sociology, Psychology & Social Work, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
  • 68 81Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • 69 82Faculty of Psychology and Education, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
  • 70 83School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
  • 71 84Faculty of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU Hanoi), Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 72 85Department of Social Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • 73 86Sakarya University of Applied Sciences, Geyve Vocational School, Turkey
  • 74 87Department of Health, Social and Welfare Studies, University of South-Eastern Norway, Campus Vestfold, Borre, Norway
  • 75 88Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
  • 76 89Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
  • 77 90School of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
  • 78 91Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory, Centre for Workplace Excellence, Justice & Society, University of South Australia, South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
  • 79 92Leeds University Business School, Leeds, United Kingdom
  • 80 93School of Liberal Arts, M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan
  • 81 94Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
  • 82 95Department of Cardiology, Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan
  • 83 96Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
  • 84 97Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
  • 85 98Faculty of Media and Communication, Singidunum University in Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
  • 86 99Interfaculty for Graduate Studies and Research, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
  • 87 100Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
  • 88 101Sao Paulo School of Business Administration, FGV, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 89 102Department of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 90 104Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Branch in Tashkent, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • 91 105Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China
  • 92 107Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 93 108Departments of Population and Public Health Sciences, and Psychology, and School of Social Work, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • 94 109Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development, Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines
  • 95 110Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
  • 96 112Department of Psychology, University of Picardie Jules Verne (Université de Picardie Jules Verne), Amiens, France
  • 97 113Centre for Health Behaviours Research (CHBR), JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China
  • 98 114Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 99 116Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
J Behav Addict, 2025 Feb 25.
PMID: 39998574 DOI: 10.1556/2006.2025.00005

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite the last decade's significant development in the scientific study of work addiction/workaholism, this area of research is still facing a fundamental challenge, namely the need for a valid and reliable measurement tool that shows cross-cultural invariance and, as such, allows for worldwide studies on this phenomenon.

METHODS: An initial 16-item questionnaire, developed within an addiction framework, was administered alongside job stress, job satisfaction, and self-esteem measures in a total sample of 31,352 employees from six continents and 85 cultures (63.5% females, mean age of 39.24 years).

RESULTS: Based on theoretical premises and psychometric testing, the International Work Addiction Scale (IWAS) was developed as a short measure representing essential features of work addiction. The seven-item version (IWAS-7), covering all seven components of work addiction, showed partial scalar invariance across 81 cultures, while the five-item version (IWAS-5) showed it across all 85 cultures. Higher levels of work addiction on both versions were associated with higher job stress, lower job satisfaction, and lower self-esteem across cultures. The optimal cut-offs for the IWAS-7 (24 points) and IWAS-5 (18 points) were established with an overall accuracy of 96% for both versions.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The IWAS is a valid, reliable, and short screening scale that can be used in different cultures and languages, providing comparative and generalizable results. The scale can be used globally in clinical and organizational settings, with the IWAS-5 being recommended for most practical and clinical situations. This is the first study to provide data supporting the hypothesis that work addiction is a universal phenomenon worldwide.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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