Quote · TED Talks Daily
Does working hard really make you a good person? | Azim Shariff (re-release)
Where this was said
The Jeff Experiment: Effort Without Output Still Earns Moral Credit
At 4:23 · chapter starts 3:50
Shariff walks the audience through his signature study: Jeff, a medical scribe, has been made redundant by software but still has three years left on a guaranteed contract. He can either stay home and collect his salary, or keep going in and doing work that's already been automated. Half the study's participants heard Jeff chose to stay home; the other half heard he kept working. The results were striking: the Jeff who kept working was seen as less competent — a 'bit of a chump' — but also warmer, more trustworthy, and more moral. [1] — Azim Shariff "When a medical scribe's job is replaced by software, participants judged the Jeff who kept pointlessly working as warmer, more trustworthy,…" 03:45 He was judged to be a good person. The paradox is laid bare: effort disconnected from output still generates moral credit, and Shariff names this phenomenon effort moralization.
When two widget makers produced identical results, participants rated the one who struggled more as more moral and the preferred cooperation partner, even though he was seen as less competent.
Effort moralization appears to predate and transcend the Protestant work ethic, suggesting it is a deeply evolved human tendency rather than a culturally specific belief.
Shariff's effort moralization finding replicated across the US, South Korea — one of the hardest-working OECD countries — and France, suggesting the bias transcends cultural work norms.
