The Seven Deadly Sins at Work, Part 2

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The Seven Deadly Sins at Work
Part 2 of 3
By Andrew D. Carson, Ph.D.

Continued from:

Part 1, including Introduction, Extent of Belief in Sin, and History and Folk Psychology

Concludes with:

Part 3, including Relation of Sin to Other Constructs, Applications to Career Interventions, References, Websites of Interest

Descriptions of the Seven Deadly Sins Applied to Work

My present goal is to examine the seven deadly sins from a psychological perspective. (This is not to deny a spiritual aspect of sin, but only to permit treatment of the concept of sin from the perspective of a scientific understanding of behavior.) A first step would be to gain a better understanding of those personal characteristics, and, following Campolo (1987/1989), identify the characteristic attitudes, emotions, and states of mind associated with different types of sin and corresponding virtues. In addition, the organization of the sins in this discussion follows the sequence proposed by Grant (1982), namely, sins of misplaced childhood (sloth and gluttony), prolonged adolescence (wrath and lust), and exaggerated adulthood (avarice, envy, and pride).

An Aristotelian approach to sin. A central feature of the present discussion is the concept of the golden mean, drawn from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, to which MacIntyre (1984) provides an excellent introduction and one well fit to the focus of this essay. Thus, a sin represents too excessive a tendency on a dimension of action or thought, while the corresponding virtue lies in a healthy middle course. Healthy, virtuous behavior lies in the finding the correct balance between the extremes. As MacIntyre puts it, "for each virtue therefore there are two corresponding vices" (p. 154). Without direct reference to Aristotle, this interpretation of the seven deadly sins has implicitly gained ground in modern discussions of the sins (particularly for the sin of gluttony, in which both excessive consumption as well as the absence of consumption--through anorexia--are viewed as problems). Bazyn (2002), in particular among modern discussants, conceptualizes the seven deadly sins as extremes of too much or too little. However, in ancient times contrary virtues were proposed for the sins, the exercise of which was recommended as a way to defeat the influence of the sin. In other words, the concept of a contrary virtue posits a bipolar dimension with sin at one end and virtue at the other. The present discussion makes no such reference to contrary virtues per se, but assumes instead that Aristotle's concept of prudence or balance is sufficient to suggest the midpoint of virtue on the dimension of the sin itself.

The following discussion of each of the seven deadly sins (and their associated virtues) draws from several published sources, and is offered as a set of preliminary descriptions.

Sloth. Also known as "Acedia," the Greek word from the original lists of sins, which can be translated as either sloth or uncaring (Grant, 1982, p. 23). It refers to "inactivity and unresponsiveness in those upon whose cooperative efforts [others in the group] depend" (Menninger 1973, p. 146). The concept is broader than simple "laziness." It is the sin of refusing to take advantage of positive opportunities given to oneself, whether of a spiritual nature (e.g., refusing to let God into your life) or secular nature (e.g., refusing to take advantages of educational opportunities; see Menninger, 1973, p. 147). Menninger aptly describes this as a sin of "not doing, of not knowing, of not finding out what one must do" (p. 148). Pynchon (1993) describes it as "sorrow, deliberately self-directed, turned away from God, a loss of spiritual determination that feeds back on in to the process, soon enough producing what are currently known as guilt and depression, eventually pushing us to where we will do anything, in the way of venial sin and bad judgment, to avoid the discomfort" (p. 14). Sloth is essentially a loss of activity and energy that is akin to a loss of courage. This was a serious shortcoming to the Old Testament Jews; in Hebrews 10:38, we learn that God "takes no pleasure in any one who shrinks back," and as the concept evolved in Christianity the Christians viewed it with no less concern.

Bazyn (2002) suggests that sloth emerges when individuals (or societies) fail to seek and find meaning in life. He notes that although those who find themselves members of an oppressed people often give up, such need not be the case, and that "when they choose to do something, rather than moping about, their lives can again take on meaning" (p. 160). He suggests that to avoid sloth it is not sufficient to merely have courage; one needs meaningful priorities.

Not putting forth one's all at work, and evincing a laziness in the face of vocational opportunities, is one of the most serious vocational adjustment problems. However, the other extreme of excessive work commitment--workaholism--is also a serious problem.

Americans tend to work longer hours per week than the citizens of any other nation, with the possible exception of the Japanese. It may even be difficult for managers in American or Japanese companies to imagine a prudent middle ground between laziness and workaholism. Nevertheless, between the two extremes there can exist a productive middle ground that combines appropriate levels of effort with appropriate levels of "down-time" or "slack." Down-time need not be unproductive. It can provide the opportunity for creative thought, inventing new products or services, new ways to organize organizational efficiency, continuing education and professional development, practice to enhance expertise, and so on. Down-time may be important for middle-managers, who can use it to create new ideas for the organization. It can be essential for leaders of organizations, who at times need to step back from their typical frenetic pace to get a sense of the big-picture issues.

Gluttony. Gluttony is the excessive consumption of food, drink, or drugs, and more generally for excessive consumption through any passion. Grant (1982) defines it as "that motivation which leads us to disregard our own innate self-regulation and take into ourselves more of a substance or experience than we would naturally want for its own sake" (p. 36). According to Bazyn (2002), what turns strong craving into a sin is the process of becoming "too enamored with the senses" (p. 142). The sin can also extend to too little consumption of necessary substances, sort of a negative-gluttony. Whether through binging or maintaining a strange and ruinous diet, gluttony occurs when "one's life becomes a kind of subterfuge as it revolves around one's addiction and the host of codependents who support it" (Bazyn, p. 143).

Gluttony has become a serious problem in our increasingly fat society. Obesity is one of the major problems of American workers, and obese workers accrue more sick days that other workers. Exercise helps to reduce weight, and the lack of exercise among most workers must be considered part of the problem. There was a time when being fat was a sign of prosperity, and bosses and other individuals with wealth were referred to as "fat cats". But no longer--today, those with money or in positions of power in organizations tend to be somewhat less likely to be obese than rank and file workers. Moderation is again desirable. Love of good food and drink consumed in moderation provides workers with rewards for worthy accomplishments at work. The inability to enjoy food or drink--or the obsessive avoidance of it, in the case of anorexia nervosa--reflects a sort of anti-accomplishment, and can lead to severe health problems. It is, unfortunately, reportedly more common in some occupations and sports.

In the United States, the food industry reportedly spends $34 billion per year in advertising (Martin, 2003), and McDonald's alone reportedly spends $465 million per year in advertising (Martin). Such large levels of advertising spending, coupled with relatively scant spending by the federal government on public advertising that promotes healthy diet, has prompted protest. In response, the federal government plans to increase its current level of spending on (public service) advertising, seed money for local anti-obesity initiatives, and obesity research through the National Institutes of Health (Martin). It is unclear at present whether any of this added funding will support initiatives related to vocational psychology, research demonstrating a positive relationship between workplace productivity and physical fitness and good diet might lead employers to press for change.

Wrath (Anger). Wrath represents actions arising from unrestrained anger. Facets may include violence in actions, discourtesies and rudeness, and the inability to express gratitude. Grant (1982), who terms the sin vengefulness, describes the sin as "the decision that I will act on my anger by trying to hurt the person with whom I am angry" (p. 53). He also suggests that the sin always contains "an element of overkill, a disproportion between the original offense and the retaliation" (p. 52). Essentially, wrath involves taking two eyes for an eye (and probably the eyeglasses as well), and several teeth for a tooth.

Wrath can create tremendous occupational problems. At its extreme, it can result in murderous behavior in the workplace. The presence of elevated levels of wrath among employees often does create workplaces that are on edge, with frightened employees nervously guarding themselves. Some management styles--particularly management by exception (or finding fault)--foster anger and corresponding fear and anxiety among employees. On the other extreme, an inability or unwillingness to express justified and restrained anger fosters excessive passivity and a refusal to acknowledge what may be wrong or unjust in a workplace.

Some appropriate, restrained, and modulated anger may be necessary in successful work adjustment. It can be motivating without being destructive. Leadership in an organization may depend in part on demonstrating appropriate levels of anger, at appropriate times, to those who are not supporting the team or organization, and even to those who are not living up to their own potential. Effective coaching depends on moderated anger used as a motivational tool. However, it is not only the leader, manager, or coach who must learn appropriate anger in the workplace. Whistleblowers, for example, need a touch of sustained anger to carry them through the risks they undertake in correcting a wrong in the workplace. Prosecuting attorneys must also convey (in a civilized manner) indignation and anger toward those they prosecute. Finally, rank and file employees must be able to express modulated anger in a number of situations, ranging from perceptions that fellow employees are not concerned with pulling their weight, to frustrations with management over the conditions of their work. The fear that one cannot express appropriate levels of anger in the workplace, regardless of one's level of responsibility in an organization, may be one of the leading contributors to occupational stress.

Bazyn (2002) suggests several strategies for managing wrath and anger. The first is to let the initial flash of anger pass before acting on it, perhaps to sleep on it, and then reconsider things after one is rested. He also suggests that humor may be an effective coping strategy. Many comedians have lived through difficult life experiences, but successful ones have learned to transform their emotional reactions--often involving anger--into humor, that then provide an occupational advantage. One may keep an anger journal, as Gandhi recommended to his grandson (Bazyn, p. 81). However, simply denying one's anger, or burying it in silence, does not solve the problem.

Gianakos (2002) reported that there have been relatively few studies of anger and its management in relation to vocational behavior. In her qualitative study of workplace anger, she reported evidence of seven types of spurs toward anger:

work performance of coworkers
relationships with coworkers
work performance of supervisors
relationships with supervisors
dealing with the public
work performance of subordinates
work context factors

Gianakos recommended that organizations seek to identify the anger provoking incidents unique to the workplace and design interventions to address them. She recommended open communication on the part of the employer, and essentially a venting of feelings of anger on the part of the work, as the wisest course to manage anger (and in terminology of this essay, potential wrath) of workers. However, one might also address directly how employees use and appropriately manage their anger, say, in the various areas identified by Gianakos.

Lust. Lust is the excessive love of sensuality and sexual desires, and an eagerness to indulge in carnal excess with wanton vigor. Facets may include lustful fantasies, fornication, adultery, and pornography. Grant (1982) defines lust as "sexual arousal combined with inattention to the welfare of the other" (p. 65).

Excessive lust at work leads to the difficulties one might expect: sexual harassment lawsuits, and worse. However, the expression of interest in others encountered at work is not necessarily a problem; it is only a problem if it is forbidden to express any interest by company policy, or if after expressing some degree of interest it is rebuffed. Many successful marriages begin through workplace introductions. However, many divorces have also been spurred by affairs that had their origins in workplace relationships. More than is the case with the other seven deadly sins, even modest degrees of interest introduced into the workplace may create problems. It is also difficult to imagine how the absence of it creates particular difficulties in work adjustment. However, a reasonable level of sensuality and sexual desire may well be one of the main reasons one does in fact work; what one gains from work, namely money, prestige, or other things, may translate into affording one the opportunity to fulfill one's desires away from work. And in some occupations (such as advertising, screenwriting, painting, dancing), an understanding of sensuality may be a definite competitive advantage.

Bazyn (2002) conceptualizes lust primarily around difficulties in commitment. One can fail in reaching the level of commitment needed to achieve a stable, loving relationship due to either too much or too little sexual interest in another/others. Those who manage to move from simple attraction to commitment avoid the extremes of lust. More generally, this ability to form commitments allows us to "take charge of our lives, form a personal code of ethics, and not cave into peer pressure or outside norms" (Bazyn, pp. 135-136). A lust-directed life may be likened to just drifting along, where pleasure is sought as a by-product of daily life, rather than an end or consequence of having lived a good life. Lust prevents work that involves suffering, pain, and sacrifice from feeling worthwhile.

Avarice (Greed). Avarice, also known as greed, is the desire to obtain as much as possible of something that one likes, regardless of the degree to which in doing so one prevents others from obtaining that which they need. Menninger (1973) describes it as "grasping, seizing, taking, stuffing away-that rodent propensity in which some human beings excel" (p. 148). Grant (1982) suggests that "what produces the sin is the temptation to seek the having [to such a degree that] one forgets both the limits of one's actual needs and how one's having affects the life of one's neighbor" (p. 94).

Work provides the opportunity for many kinds of compensations, and for what in past times would be called the "building up of treasure." Some desire to acquire such compensation is expected and healthy. Too much becomes greed. Greed can blind individuals to ethical limits on what is allowed. Wanting ever more profits regardless of the means can lead to illegal activities that ultimately cause individuals and their employers to lose everything. But an absence of any desire to acquire can also create difficulties.

Bazyn (2002) notes two ways to display excess love of money: stinginess and being a spendthrift. Somewhere between these two extremes is a wise midpoint. The stingy extreme seeks to hoard riches and is never satisfied. The spendthrift extreme always seeks to acquire the goods or services that wealth can afford, and is likewise never satisfied. Work often gets caught up in either extreme, particularly through use of work as a means to easy money, "rather than as a natural part of the rhythm of life" (Bazyn, p. 115).

Envy. Envy, also known as covetousness, is the "yearning to possess, to possess as one's 'own', what belongs to someone else" (Menninger, 1973, p. 148). Envy spurs theft, and creates barriers to caring for the welfare of others. Grant (1982) suggests that it is "the sin of wishing that evil might befall someone else who has something I want, so that I, instead, might get it. It is the sin of wishing to prevent someone from achieving the good fortune I think should be mine" (p. 101). It is therefore a private, personal sin.

Jealousy and envy can poison relationships at work. Most workplaces offer different levels of compensation and indicators of status to different employees, and envy can make it difficult for the employees who feel they have "less" to work with other staff who they feel have "more." This being said, organizations rely on the desire of employees to obtain that which others have as one of the primary motivators in the workplace. The saving grace for envy in the workplace is that one cannot envy that which one does not at some level like, admire, or even love. At modest levels, however, one does not refer to "envy" per se; rather, one speaks of "respect" or "admiration" for the work of others (and the attendant rewards). At the lowest levels of this dimension, one sees an absence of respect for what others in the organization achieve--almost a blindness for that which is admirable--and the attitude becomes apparent in the individual's relations with others in the organization. One observes in such individuals also a reduction in ambition.

According to Bazyn (2002), pity and concern for others helps us to overcome envy. Bazyn also recommends just being oneself. By having a clear understanding of one's values and gifts, one can thereby discover ways in which to make a unique contribution to one's family, workplace, and community (Bazyn, p. 63). Such an awareness of one's ability to make a unique contribution serves to combat envy because envy only arises from comparisons to others that put one in an unfavorable light.

Pride. Pride is excessive love of self and one's characteristics that tends to set one's wonders apart from and above those of others. Pride can attach itself to actual strengths and reduce their value. According to Grant (1982), the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins is the pride the "comes when the claims of the prideful person are unmistakably true. The pride consists not in the magnitude of the claim, but in setting oneself apart as different in substance by means of the claim" (p. 120). Facets may include pride of power, knowledge, and even virtue.

Excessive pride makes it difficult for workers to admit their errors and learn from them. It promotes arrogance, which is one of the features of a job applicant most associated with their not being hired. Organizations often exacerbate the sin of pride by fostering excessive pride in the strength of the organization and its staff.

Some pride is helpful, and gives workers confidence in their daily work, and the faith with which to make long term plans and investments. Workers should take pleasure in worthy achievements. But such pride should never become excessive. Workers should be ever vigilant to discern error, mistakes, and in general where the work could be done better. Such awareness of one's limitations can lead to the development humility, which helps over the long haul because it fosters both learning and teamwork.

Finally, too little pride is almost as dangerous as too much. An absence of pride leads to sloppy work. Error and ineptitude might be readily perceived, but unfortunately workers without some degree of pride care little to remedy them, reasoning that--even should they care--such attempts may be doomed to fail.

Continued from:

Part 1, including Introduction, Extent of Belief in Sin, and History and Folk Psychology

Concludes with:

Part 3, including Relation of Sin to Other Constructs, Applications to Career Interventions, References, Websites of Interest

Updated March 16, 2008
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