Perhaps cultural discourses that value action-packed lives, coupled with high levels of consumption, are to blame for upward-spiraling perceptions of feeling rushed. Indeed, busyness may result not only in stress but, for some, in feelings of increased happiness or life satisfaction arising from the positive energy connected to states of arousal.29 Such an approach reformulates the discussion about the socioeconomic correlates of time pressure into a debate around the manifestations and consequences of busyness. “Whereas the concept of ‘time pressure’ is negative in its connotations, ‘busyness’ is at worst neutral, and may indeed carry with it the positive connotations of ‘busyness’ as an antonym to ‘idleness.’”30
So has the notion of busyness acquired a new positive meaning in our culture? Is busyness a status symbol for those with higher social capital? In an intriguing argument, Jonathan Gershuny claims that whereas a century ago those in the upper income bracket were defined by their leisure, in a reversal of Thorstein Veblen’s classic Theory of the Leisure Class, nowadays prestige accords to those who work long hours and are busiest at work.31
To this point I have described how the increase in dual-job households in conjunction with shifting norms of parenting contribute to time pressure. Entirely consistent with this explanation, however, are two further arguments. One is to do with the density of leisure itself, created by the desire for ever more intensive consumption of goods and services.32 The second involves not so much a change in behavior but a change in the way feelings of “busyness” are constructed out of these: “the growth in busy feelings may in part reflect an increasingly positive view of ‘busyness’ that results from its association with the increasingly busy lifestyle of the most privileged groups in developed societies.”33 Today, it is conspicuous devotion to time-intensive work activities rather than the conspicuous consumption of leisure that is the signifier of high social status.
The Time-Pressure Paradox
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