Valuing creativity, feeling overworked and working hours: Male workers and the New Spirit of Capitalism

Abstract

Boltanski and Chiapello argued that creativity is a required attribute of managers emanating from the ideology of the ‘New Spirit of Capitalism’. Ideology provides the justification for work practices and brings material consequences in relation to the experience of time. This article explores both the ideology and the links between the ideological and the experience of time by assessing whether male managers prioritise creativity and whether this is related to their working hours, driving them to work longer hours than other workers and longer hours than they actually want. Men’s dominant position in work organisations puts them at the centre of this exploration. Using multilevel linear and logistic models on 2010 data from the European Social Survey ( N = 7049), we show that male managers prioritise creativity more than other workers do. There are consequences for the experience of time as valuing creativity in combination with being a manager increases working hours above the large and significant effect of being a manager. The feeling of overwork is raised independently for those who value creativity and for those who are managers.