“Our ambitions and aspirations should be our baseline; we should not only aim to get by but strive to get ahead,” stated Vice President Kamala Harris as she unveiled her vision for an “opportunity economy” in a recent address.
As a sociologist exploring how people perceive ambition and success, I’m intrigued by the wave of anti-ambition sentiment that has emerged recently, which stands in contrast to Harris’s optimistic viewpoint.
A notable article in The New York Times Magazine from 2022 highlighted what it called a new “Age of Anti-Ambition.”
While many embraced the notion that “ambition is out,” some suggested that ambition had merely transitioned to a more subdued version, as Fortune magazine noted that people seemed to be “less concerned with achievement for its own sake.”
This raises an important question: Is Harris’s focus on ambition resonating with voters as the presidential election approaches? Do people still value ambition as a key to success?
Changing Perspectives
To understand this, let’s examine some data. The General Social Survey (GSS), which has been monitoring American attitudes and beliefs since the 1970s, poses a series of questions regarding the significance of various paths to success.
This includes categories like “ambition,” “hard work,” “a good education,” “background privilege,” and “networking.” Respondents classify each factor as “essential,” “very important,” “fairly important,” “not very important,” or “not important at all.”
In 1987, during the GSS’s inaugural survey on this topic, 43% of American workers considered ambition “essential” for success, while 44% deemed it “very important,” 11% said it was “fairly important,” and only 2% indicated it was “not very/not at all important.”
(Mimi Thian/Unsplash)
While I had my suspicions that ambition hasn’t waned among Americans, I wanted to substantiate my theory. Therefore, I enlisted YouGov to conduct two national surveys of 7,500 American workers in 2023 and 2024 for my research titled the MESSI (Measuring Employment Sentiments and Social Inequality) study.
My 2024 findings reveal that while many American workers still acknowledge ambition’s importance, there are indications that attitudes have shifted somewhat.
Specifically, the percentage of respondents who consider ambition “essential” has fallen by nine points since 1987, landing at 34%. Meanwhile, those who view ambition as “very important” decreased by two points (now at 42%), while those who perceive ambition as “fairly important” or “unimportant” surged by 11 points.
This softening of views is noteworthy. However, if we are indeed in an anti-ambition era, why do three-quarters of American workers still regard ambition as very significant or essential?
(General Social Survey, 1987; Measuring Employment Sentiments and Social Inequality Study (MESSI), 2024, Scott Schieman, Principal Investigator)
Catching Attention?
Harris often underscores the “dignity of work” and the virtues of “hard work” in her speeches. However, in a landscape where anti-work narratives have surged, alongside newer phrases like “quiet quitting,” her celebrations of hard work may not speak to everyone.
Read more:
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Reflecting on the 1987 GSS, a remarkable 91% of working Americans believed that hard work was “very important” or “essential” for success. However, this figure dropped slightly to 89% in 2021 and fell to 77% by 2024.
(General Social Survey, 1987 and 2021; 2024 data from the Measuring Employment Sentiments and Social Inequality Study (MESSI); Scott Schieman, Principal Investigator)
This 11-point decline might raise concerns. Yet, it’s worth noting that nearly 80% of American workers still value hard work, demonstrating its staying power — especially in light of ongoing narratives depicting employees as unhappy in their jobs since 2021.
Read more:
New research challenges the ‘unhappy worker’ narrative but indicates widespread belief in it
Will to Work Harder
A viral TikTok video explains that quiet quitting means you “quit the notion of going above and beyond.”
Given the frequency of quiet quitting in discussions about anti-ambition, I was curious how Americans would respond to a GSS question about their willingness to work harder for their organization’s success.
If quiet quitting has truly become prevalent, would it not be reasonable to assume that most Americans would strongly oppose the idea of going the extra mile?
In 2006 and 2016, eight in ten Americans expressed a willingness to put in extra effort. However, this number fell to 60% in my 2023 and 2024 MESSI surveys, suggesting an increase in ambivalence about giving that extra effort.
(General Social Survey, 2006 and 2016; Measuring Employment Sentiments and Social Inequality Study (MESSI), 2023 and 2024, Scott Schieman, Principal Investigator)
‘Hard Work Pays Off’
So, what can we conclude? Broad claims that we are currently experiencing an era of anti-ambition, along with assertions that a majority are engaging in quiet quitting, lack strong foundation.
While it is true that perspectives about ambition, hard work, and going the extra mile have evolved, the reality is more nuanced than media narratives suggest. Despite pervasive economic pessimism, a significant portion of the workforce still values hard work despite ongoing negative portrayals of job satisfaction since 2021.
As election day approaches, Harris may face challenges in promoting her vision of an “opportunity economy.” However, her assertion remains steadfast: “Hard work is good work.”
