> The answer appears to be that the perception, the myth of the overworked American is based on our own self-reporting. Gallup Poll results show that just over

> The answer appears to be that the perception, the myth of the overworked American is based on our own self-reporting. Gallup Poll results show that just over half of Americans are satisfied with their work hours and amount of vacation time, meaning almost half are not. More importantly, only 43 percent like their chances of promotion and only 41 percent are satisfied with their pay. This gives an awful lot of people an incentive to report that they are working really, really hard. If I am interpreting the article correctly, the argument here is that dissatisfaction with some aspects of our careers (such as prospects of promotion) is causing us to claim we work really hard or claim we are overworked, as an emotional response?