A longitudinal study of heavy time investment in work

The purpose of this paper is to examine heavy time investment in work from both dispositional and situational perspectives.

Data were collected twice, at the beginning and at the end of a 12-year period, from the same respondents of the Meaning of Work project in Israel.

The classification of respondents as heavy work investors (work more than 50 weekly hours) or as ordinary workers is stable over the years, which indirectly supports the dispositional perspective. The situational perspective is generally not supported. Remaining at the same workplace or changing workplaces and a stable or changing classification of a person as a heavy work investor or as an ordinary worker over the years are dependent on each other. However, no relation was found between change in financial needs and a person’s level of time investment in work. Only two out of 14 relevant life events relate positively and significantly to the level of time investment in work over the years: appointment to manage other workers and receiving greater work autonomy.

The effectiveness of policies designed to encourage working long hours on the one hand, or a work-life balance on the other, is questionable. However, a specific intervention which, based on the findings of this study, may encourage time investment in work is expanding the job vertically.

This is an exceptional longitudinal study examining stability (over time) and situational predictors of work hours among the same individuals.