Famed economist John Maynard Keynes predicted in 1930 that future generations would only work 15 hours per week.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
With constant access to email and the advent of smartphones, it’s like we never leave the office, even when we’re home. More than half of Americans say they don’t have enough free time and frequently experience stress, according to Gallup.
But all that stress might be worth it, if you’re focused on upping your social status. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who are busy — or appear to be busy — are highly regarded by others. One of the study’s authors, Georgetown’s Neeru Paharia, says busy people create this perception by turning themselves into a limited resource.
“It’s intuitive for people who are self-employed [to say their time is limited] especially, say, if you’re a real-estate agent ... Because you’re so good, people want your time. You’re scarce and in demand. It must mean you’re really good at what you do," Paharia said.
But this wasn’t always the case. Economist Thorstein Veblen argued that many viewed what he called “the leisure class” as society’s most important people. This leisure class was made up of wealthy people who were able to waste time as well as money. (Think of the characters in Downton Abbey.) Paharia set out to see whether people still value these characteristics.
Turns out, we don’t. These days, we put high value on people who are constantly busy. Paharia even found that people rarely cared about the socioeconomic status of busy people. They admired what they considered a busy person’s ambition and a higher level of competence, regardless of class.
Paharia tested this idea of how being busy relates to social status by looking at the grocery store choices we make. She selected three grocery options and asked people to pick which one they associated with high status. Their options were Peapod, a mid-tier grocery delivery service; Trader Joe’s, an inexpensive grocery store, and Whole Foods, an upscale grocery store.
Paharia says, despite a difference in cost, Peapod’s ability to save you time elevated its customers to the same status as Whole Foods’ shoppers (at least in the eyes of their fellow Americans).
It's really hard to tell people you drive an expensive car every day on social media.
“Even though Peapod is cheaper, it gets this status boost because it gives you the sense that you just don’t have the time to shop,” Paharia said. “You’re too busy and important.”
So will we continue to value a person based on how busy they are? Parahia says if the way we post on social media is any indicator, then yes.
“Social media makes it really easy to talk about how busy you are,” Paharia said. “It’s really hard to tell people you drive an expensive car every day on social media. The signaling status of products works well in the physical world where you have an excuse to use these products, but it’s hard to talk about them on social media.”
