workism
{{Short description|Social trend}}
{{Distinguish|Workerism}}
Workism is a term describing excessive devotion to work ethic, so much that it defines a person's purpose in life. The term was coined by American journalist Derek Thompson, in a 2019 article for The Atlantic magazine.{{Cite web |last=Hess |first=AJ |date=Apr 4, 2023 |title=How 'workism' replaced religion |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90875705/how-workism-replaced-religion |access-date=Aug 8, 2023 |website=Fast Company}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discoursemagazine.com/ideas/2022/01/31/in-defense-of-workism/|title=In Defense of "Workism"|first=Robert|last=Tracinski|date=January 31, 2022|website=Discourse}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/|title=Workism Is Making Americans Miserable|first=Derek|last=Thompson|date=February 24, 2019|website=The Atlantic}}
Workism may come across as cult-like because of the burden being put on workists to present themselves positively, the use of groupthink, having work dictate their relationships and thinking, and the pursuit of an idealised outcome that may be unrealistic. Workism may be experienced as oppressive by both working and non-working people. Workist attitudes may develop in the context of a historically Protestant work ethic, or independently as a heuristic bias redeeming hustle culture, in which people try to justify the immense sacrifices they have made to maintain and advance their careers, rather than the reason they started making those sacrifices.{{Cite news |last=Griffith |first=Erin |date=2019-01-26 |title=Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/business/against-hustle-culture-rise-and-grind-tgim.html |access-date=2023-11-25 |issn=0362-4331}} It is also claimed that workism has trickled down from the top, for whom this disposition makes more sense.{{Cite magazine |last=Lepore |first=Jill |date=2021-01-11 |title=What's Wrong with the Way We Work |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/18/whats-wrong-with-the-way-we-work |access-date=2023-11-25 |issn=0028-792X}}
Workism takes after, but is distinct from productivism and producerism. Producerism focuses on the merit of what is being produced, through any means, while workism focuses on the merit of accomplishing or earning something through work. Productivism is like workism, but more easily praises non-work activities, assuming that those non-work activities produce something of tangible value, or lead to it.
Work martyr
A person who puts work before their own time and health may be called a 'work martyr'. Work martyrs typically experience gratification from work and outperform others, but may be unable to delegate or unplug from work.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-27 |title=5 Warning Signs You Are Becoming A Work Martyr |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/work-martyr-signs-reality-check_l_5e2b26aec5b67d8874b134c3 |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=HuffPost UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Wilding |first=Melody |date=2017 |title=10 Signs That You've Become a 'Work Martyr 'There's a new type of workaholism: the 'work martyr'. |url=https://www.inc.com/melody-wilding/watch-for-these-10-signs-of-burn-out-to-know-if-youre-giving-too-much-at-the-off.html}}
See also
{{Columns-list|
- {{annotated link|Achievement ideology}}
- {{annotated link|Anarchism}}
- {{annotated link|Bedtime procrastination}}
- {{annotated link|Effort justification}}
- {{annotated link|Escalation of commitment}}
- {{annotated link|Iron cage}}
- {{annotated link|Producerism}}
- {{annotated link|Productivism}}
- {{annotated link|Protestant work ethic}}
- {{annotated link|Work ethic}}
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Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{Cite web |title=How I am stepping back from workism to nurture my broader ambitions |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-i-am-stepping-back-workism-nurture-my-broader-ambitions |website=www.science.org}}
- {{Cite web |last=Levs |first=Josh |title=The dangers of "workism" |url=https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-dangers-of-workism |website=Strategy+business}}
- {{Cite web |last=Horton |first=Adrian |date=March 31, 2022 |title=Hustle harder: how TV became obsessed with stories of workism |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/31/wecrashed-hustle-harder-tv-workism }}
- {{Cite web |title=Workism Isn't Working | Michael Toscano |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/02/workism-isnt-working |website=First Things|date=February 2022 }}
- {{Cite web |title="Workism" : identité et travail, la pandémie a-t-elle rompu le lien ? | Welcome to the Jungle |url=https://www.welcometothejungle.com/fr/articles/workism-identite-travail-crise-coronavirus |website=www.welcometothejungle.com}}
- {{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Luke |date=February 9, 2023 |title=The workism con: On Gen Z, quiet quitting, and work-life balance |url=https://leffcommunications.com/2023/02/09/the-workism-con-on-gen-z-quiet-quitting-and-work-life-balance/}}
- {{Cite web |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=January 27, 2023 |title=Opinion | Is 'Workism' Dooming Civilization? Notes on the New Pew Parents Study. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/opinion/pew-parents.html |via=NYTimes.com}}
- {{Cite web |last=DeRose |first=Lyman Stone, Laurie |date=May 5, 2021 |title=What Workism Is Doing to Parents |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/what-workism-doing-would-be-parents/618789/ |website=The Atlantic}}
- {{cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/japp.12783|title=What is Wrong with Workism?|first=Matthew|last=Hammerton|journal=Journal of Applied Philosophy|year=2025|doi=10.1111/japp.12783|doi-access=free}}