Laziness as a Serious Subject - Essay Example

Laziness Jules Renard once remarked that "laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired". Laziness has been the brunt of jokes, the object of contempt, and the target of ridicule. However, laziness is a serious subject that often plagues the victim with a life of low motivation and under accomplishment. Laziness may have an underlying medical cause that results in mental and physical exhaustion that is then labeled as laziness, or may be the result of socialization and opportunism that has created a disregard for the respect for work. Emotional disorders, such as anxiety or depression, may render the victim lethargic and incapable of producing work. It may manifest as an unmotivated individual, unreasonable expectations of entitlement, procrastination, manipulation, or simply not doing what should be done. Society is impacted by disrupted production schedules, co-worker animosity, missed work, and the eventual firing of the lazy person. This paper will review some of the current literature in regards to laziness and report the findings as to the cause, effects, and implications of laziness. While there are significant differences in the self-perception of procrastinators and non-procrastinators, research has not shown the cause of these differences. A comprehensive study by Ferrari, Driscole, and Diaz-Morales, reported that, "procrastinators have negative feelings about their actual self-concept faculties and self-presentation tactics", and that "they are not pleased by how they view themselves, similar to the perceptions reported by observers of their behaviors" (120). However, the research did not report whether procrastination was the cause or the effect of the negative self-concept. In two studies that involved Turkish students that procrastinated academic tasks, fear of failure was the main reason cited for delaying a task (Ozer, Demir, and Ferrari 245, 251). This would indicate that a low self-esteem is a cause of procrastination. As long as the victim does not start the task, there is no failure, and they won't be the subjects of ridicule. In addition, women showed a greater fear of failure that resulted in procrastination than men (Ozer, Demir, and Ferrari 253). This is in line with the female difference that tends to be more avoidant of fear from an early age. A second reason cited by men for procrastinating, rebellion against control, was not a major reason for female avoidance (Ozer, Demir, and Ferrari 253). In addition to these active procrastinators, some people are passive procrastinators. They are victims of themselves and "do not intend to procrastinate, but they often end up postponing tasks because of their inability to make decisions quickly and to thereby act on them quickly" (Chu and Choi 247). Still, poor self-image and a fear of failure are the main reasons driving both male and female procrastination. Laziness may be quantified by the degree to which a person feels entitled to a reward without regards to their productive output. In workplace studies, it has been reported that "women generally earn less than men and report less income entitlement than men do" (Ciani, Summers, and Easter 333). From this point of view, men have a greater expectation of entitlement for the same performance or output. Taken to the logical extension, men would be more likely to have someone support them, a spouse, trust fund, or the system, even though society views them as deviant. This is a classical definition of laziness in regards to work, and may generalize to other areas of a person's life. Ciani, Summers, and Easter report that "today's college students are more selfish, superficial, and narcissistic than ever before" (332). These students have been self-inflated throughout grade school and high school, and they enter college with a sense of entitlement to grades, resulting in grade inflation across the country (Ciani, Summers, and Easter 333). Once again, in the academic setting, men were more likely to feel a greater sense of entitlement than women (Ciani, Summers, and Easter 341). This may be the result of the historical repression that women have endured, and their inability to see themselves as emotional equals to men, and therefore less deserving of entitlements. In essence, the years of domination by the male have made the masculine gender more quantitatively lazy than their female counterparts in the same situation. Social interaction and societal norms can account for some degree of laziness, but it may also be an individual choice. Most people would prefer to lie on the couch, watch TV, and have a cold drink as opposed to hauling a heavy load in the heat of a summer's sun. Some people may prefer this as a lifestyle and be willing to forfeit any opportunity for achievement or any chance of personal success. Laziness is a complex emotional and social phenomenon. Laziness and its manifestation of chronic procrastination is "related to a number of personality traits, including low states of self-confidence and self-esteem and high states of depression, neurosis, public self consciousness, social anxiety, forgetfulness, disorganization, non-competitiveness, dysfunctional impulsiveness, behavioral rigidity, and lack of energy" (Ferrari, Mason, and Hammer 29). While this list highlights the negative underlying causes of laziness, the outcome may not be as severe as portrayed. Students that responded to a questionnaire noted that while motivation and persistence contributed greatly to their success, failure was almost never attributed to laziness (Lebedina-Manzoni 704,706). People who are lazy, or procrastinate, have little realization of the harm that it causes. Beyond the sociological and free will reasons that a person may have for avoiding a task or having unreasonable expectations in regards to the value of their work, there are serious psychological and physiological reasons why a person may be excessively lethargic and prone to perceived laziness. Depression is a widespread disorder that often carries with it the symptoms that one could describe as laziness. Because there is no definitive test for depression, patients are evaluated according to their symptoms. According to McMinn, a depressed person is "inclined to withdraw from the activities and relationships that once brought happiness and joy to his or her life and have difficulty functioning in everyday life. Depression can lead to lost productivity at work" (24). The depressed person does not have the interest or the energy to engage in even the most routine everyday tasks. In addition, they may sleep excessively, which further adds to the perception of laziness. An extended bout with depression can also provide the same outcome as laziness, such as "reduced income and job status, and to have significant deficits in relationships with friends and family, including recreational activity, sexual activity, and overall 'life satisfaction' compared with individuals with no lifetime history of affective disorder" (Sonawalla and Fava 769). From these aspects, and the external view, there is little difference whether the cause of the laziness is an emotional disorder or a sociological deviance. Physiological ailments may also contribute to the feeling of laziness that is accompanied by the feeling of being helpless to do anything about it. Physical and medical conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Neurally Mediated Hypotension (NMH) can cause abnormally escalated levels of fatigue. Here again, there are no definitive medical tests to determine the presence of CFS or NMH. CFS is characterized by "a severe, incapacitating fatigue that isn't improved by bed rest and that may be exacerbated by physical or mental activity. It's an all-encompassing fatigue that results in a dramatic decline in both activity level and stamina" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Once again, the decline in activities and the loss of life's material rewards parallels the results of laziness for any other reason. To complicate the problem, there are a variety of sleep and breathing disorders that all result in people who have less energy that normal, or who suffer from sleepiness. The illness becomes stigmatized, as our society takes a dim view of laziness and low energy levels. "Our culture is assembled around an idealized work ethic under which healthy, productive individuals are valued, but those who are very young, very old, differently abled or infirmed are actively devalued" (Klimas and Patarca 70). Laziness is a stigma that almost never takes into account the underlying emotional, psychological, or physiological reasons. Without an outward sign of disease such as a crutch or a scar, individuals that suffer from laziness are simply viewed as escaping their obligation to do their share. In conclusion, laziness can originate from a sociological value, a cultural norm, a deviant behavior, or a medical reason the can only vaguely be explained. Procrastination is the most visible outward sign of laziness and is often prompted by the person's fear of failure, and the fear of taking action. This condition is often accompanied by low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence. Additionally, people may innocently procrastinate because they simply can't make a timely decision. No matter what the person's rationale for avoidance and delay of completing a task, it usually results in a lower possibility of success and achievement in the world. Workplace status, income, relationships, and personal accomplishments will all suffer from laziness and procrastination. Mental and medical disorders also take their toll, as the general syndrome of fatigue and a loss of interest stigmatizes the victim as being lazy. These people suffer the same loss of status and well being, while being trapped in a condition beyond their control. Because they have no outward signs of injury or illness, society labels them as simply not doing their responsible part in the world. There are many aspects to laziness, from the deliberate to the unwelcome. Understanding laziness can offer some hope of motivating the procrastinator. In addition, the public needs to be better educated and develop a greater sensitivity to those that suffer from the stigma of being lazy, due to medical problems beyond their control. Works Cited "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Department of Health and Human Services. 9 May 2006. CDC. 22 June 2009 . Chu, Angela H., and Jin N. Choi. "Rethinking Procrastination: Positive Effects of "Active" Procrastination Behavior on Attitudes and Performance." The Journal of Social Psychology 145.3 (2005): 245-64. Ciani, Keith D., Jessica J. Summers, and Matthew A. Easter. "Gender Differences in Academic Entitlement Among College Students." The Journal of Genetic Psychology 169.4 (2008): 332-44. Ferrari, Joseph R., Christopher P. Mason, and Corey Hammer. "Procrastination as a Predictor of Task Perceptions: Examining Delayed and Non-delayed Tasks Across Varied Deadlines." Individual Differences Research 4.1 (2006): 28-36. Ferrari, Joseph R., Mark Driscoll, and Juan F. Diaz-Morales. "Examining the Self of Chronic Procrastinators: Actual, Ought, and Undesired Attributes." Individual Differences Research 5.2 (2007): 115-23. Klimas, Nancy, and Roberto Patarca, eds. Clinical Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Binghamton, NY: American Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 1995. Lebedina-Manzoni, Marija. "To What Students Attribute Their Academic Success and Unsuccess." Education 124.4 (2004): 699-708. McMinn, Mark R. "When You're Depressed: Three Questions to Ask-Five Ways to Respond." Christianity Today 53.3 (2009): 24-25. Ozer, Bilge U., Ayhan Demir, and Joseph R. Ferrari. "Exploring Academic Procrastination Among Turkish Students: Possible Gender Differences in Prevalence and Reasons." The Journal of Social Psychology 149.2 (2009): 241-57. Renard, Jules. ThinkExist. 2008. ThinkExist. 23 June 2009 . Sonawalla, Shamsah, and Maurizio Fava. "Severe Depression Is There a Best Approach" CNS Drugs 15.10 (2001): 765-76. Read More