Padded Prowess: A Veblenian Interpretation of the Long Hours of Salaried Workers

There is a widely perceived problem with the workweek in the US. A Veblenian perspective on this situation seems appropriate because status anxieties may be influencing the self-reporting of work effort. The salaried worker can still keep up appearances by concealing necessary work, e.g., understating the hours it takes to get a grant or make a sale. Ancient myths of prowess reward those who give the appearance of affluence while doing little required drudgery. Veblenian and other theories regarding the origins of conceptions of prowess are outlined. The successful hunter or conqueror's understatement of effort (arguably the oldest status finesse) is described, and the impact of such understatement on the modern workweek is examined. Situations where salaried workers have an incentive to overstate their work effort are discussed. The finesse that allows some people to gain respect on both the barbarian status scale that interested Veblen and the Protestant work ethic scale that interested Max Weber is considered.