Two contributing factors are religion and social identity. The “Protestant work ethic” has played a role in shaping American social views about work. https://e

Two contributing factors are religion and social identity. The “Protestant work ethic” has played a role in shaping American social views about work. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic American society often anchors identity in work (“Nice to meet you. What do you do?”). An example search result for “work and American identity” turned up this survey from 2014: 55% of Americans get a sense of identity from their job. https://news.gallup.com/poll/175400/workers-sense-identity-job.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/175400/workers-sense-identity-j...