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Related Experiment Videos

Working 61 plus hours a week: why do managers do it?

Jeanne M Brett1, Linda K Stroh

  • 1Department of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. jmbrett@kellogg.northwestern.edu

The Journal of Applied Psychology
|April 5, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Financial and psychological rewards best explain why male managers work extreme hours (61+ per week). For female managers, work-leisure trade-offs, social contagion, and work as its own reward were key factors.

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Area of Science:

  • Organizational Behavior
  • Work-Life Balance Studies

Background:

  • Understanding the drivers of extreme work hours is crucial for employee well-being and organizational productivity.
  • Existing theories offer various explanations, including work-leisure trade-offs and psychological motivations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the primary reasons male and female managers work 61 or more hours per week.
  • To test established theories explaining excessive work hours, such as work as an emotional respite and social contagion.

Main Methods:

  • The study examined explanations for extreme work hours in a sample of male managers.
  • A small sample of managerial women was also included to compare findings across genders.

Main Results:

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  • For male managers, financial and psychological rewards were the strongest predictors of working extreme hours.
  • The hypothesis that managers use work to escape home pressures was not supported for men.
  • Findings for female managers aligned with work-leisure trade-off, social contagion, and work-as-own-reward theories.

    • Conclusions:

    • The motivations for working extreme hours differ significantly between male and female managers.
    • Financial and psychological benefits are key drivers for men, while a combination of factors influences women's work hours.