The Big Read: You must have made it big if you are too busy for golf

Taking the afternoon off for a round of golf or enjoying a beach holiday in a five-star resort once were signs of having made it.

But now a study has shown that apparently being always busy and overworked may be a better way to demonstrate social capital, especially in the US.

This trend is said to be catching on around the world.

Researchers at Harvard University said urbanites are increasingly "humblebragging" - boasting about their hectic lives to prove that they are in demand.

Phrases such as "I have no life" and "I desperately need a holiday" are used to imply social standing.

And ordering food online is the perfect way to prove to neighbours that you are simply too busy and important to go to the supermarket.

"Movies, magazines and popular TV shows often highlight the abundance of money and leisure time among the wealthy," said Dr Neeru Paharia, an assistant professor at Harvard University.

"In recent years, featuring wealthy people relaxing by the pool or on a yacht, playing tennis and polo, or skiing and hunting are being replaced with ads featuring busy individuals who work long hours and have very limited leisure time.

"Displaying one's busyness at work and lack of leisure time operates as a visible signal of status in the eyes of others."

The researchers point out that the Wall Street Journal's 2016 marketing campaign featured celebrities who complained about their busy lives, with the slogan: "People who don't have time, make time to read the Wall Street Journal."

The study was carried out in the US and also in Italy, where the effect was said to be completely reversed. Italians still viewed a leisurely life as indicating high status.

The research, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that brands that marketed themselves as time-saving were becoming increasingly high-status, because of the people who used them.

"We uncovered an alternative type of conspicuous consumption that operated by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals," the authors concluded.

"People's social-mobility beliefs are psychologically driven by the perception that busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as scarce and in demand."

- ©The Daily Telegraph