IS BUSYNESS A NEW TREND AMONG WHITE COLLARS?

Abstract

When asked how their lives are, the most popular answer that people give is that they are busy all the time. Being busy indicates working long hours and lacking leisure time. While research on social status has primarily focused on money as an indicator of one’s social status, it is important to know whether the factors (in our case, busyness) other than money have an effect on the perception of one’s social status. The aim of this study is to investigate whether devoting more time to work is a demonstration of higher social status. With this aim, the relationship between busyness and social status is examined. Data for the study were collected from 225 whitecollar employees working in banking, textile, chemical, and construction sectors in Istanbul, Turkey. According to the findings, no significant relationship was found between busyness and social status. Based on additional general questions in the questionnaire, most of the respondents reported that they see themselves as busy persons and have a social status above average.