Jobs and the Future of Work

Where do people think they work harder than they actually do?

Pedestrians cross a road at Tokyo's business district September 30, 2014. Japanese big manufacturers' confidence improved slightly in the three months to September, a closely watched central bank survey showed, but service-sector sentiment worsened, adding to evidence that a sales tax hike continues to weigh on the economy.

Pedestrians cross a road Image: REUTERS/Yuya Shino

Joon Ian Wong
Technology Reporter, Quartz

Ever feel like you’ve gone above and beyond what your job required? You’re not alone, especially if you’re an American. Nearly 11% of US workers overestimate how productive they are relative to their compatriots, according to a survey of more than 6,000 respondents in 14 countries by Qualtrics, a market research platform.

People who think they’re doing better than they are suffer from “the Lake Wobegon effect,” named after a fictional town from a long-running American radio show. Lake Wobegon was conceived as a place where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average,” which speaks to the human tendency to overestimate ourselves. The same tendency is also called “self-serving bias” or “illusory superiority.”

Compared to Americans, Italians and New Zealanders only slightly over-stated their productivity at work compared to their fellow citizens. The measure was derived by first asking respondents what proportion of their individual work days were productive, and then asking them to estimate the same proportion of productivity for their countrymen. The gap between the two is shown in the chart below.

Why do Americans think they’re so much better than their fellows at work? It’s difficult to say, Qualtrics’ global insights head Mike Maughan told Quartz, but it could be an overhang from the financial crisis of 2008. “US workers may feel even more challenged, with fewer and fewer people being asked to do more and more work,” he said. (Americans also claim they spend the least time on personal social media at work, clocking in at 14 minutes compared to the 24 minutes Greeks say they spend daily.)

This does not mean American’s aren’t happy at work. They reported the second-highest proportion of workers who said they were “extremely satisfied” with their work-life balance, just behind the French and ahead of Germans. “It doesn’t mean they’re the most satisfied with their jobs,” Maughan says of Americans, Germans and French workers, but “even if you work long hours, if you enjoy what you do, it tends to mitigate problems with work-life balance.”

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

United States

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how United States is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

3 lessons from the Middle East’s reskilling revolution

Dr. Ciaran O’Cathain

November 21, 2024

How ports can lead a just transition for workers in an automated future

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum