Das Magazin Harvard Business Review hat untersucht, wer lange (über 50 Stunden) pro Wochen arbeitet. Interessant sind die Gründe, warum Männer länger arbeiten. Es geht a) um Männlichkeit und b) um eine bestimmte Ethik.
For upper-middle class men, notes sociologist Michèle Lamont, ambition and a strong work ethic are “doubly sacred. . . as signals of both moral and socioeconomic purity. Elite men’s jobs revolve around the work devotion schema, which communicates that high-level professionals should “demonstrate commitment by making work the central focus of their lives” and “manifest singular ‘devotion to work,’ unencumbered with family responsibilities”.
Work devotion marries moral purity with elite status.
Eine extrem bepackte Agenda signalisiert: Ich bin wichtig. Es geht also nicht um Innovation und Produktivität, sondern um Identität.
It’s not productivity. It’s not innovation. It’s identity. If you’ve lived a life where holidays are a nuisance, where you’ve missed your favorite uncle’s funeral and your children’s childhoods, in a culture that conflates manly heroism with long hours, it’s going to take more than a few regressions to convince you it wasn’t really necessary, after all, for your work to devour you.
VD: AM
