Editing Protestant work ethic (section)

{{short description|Social-theologic concept}}
{{redirect|Protestant Ethic|Weber's book|The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism}}

The '''Protestant work ethic''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gini |first1=Al |title=Protestant Work Ethic |journal=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society |date=2018 |pages=2791–2793 |doi=10.4135/9781483381503|isbn=9781483381527 }}</ref> also known as the '''Calvinist work ethic'''<ref>The Idea of Work in Europe from Antiquity to Modern Times by Catharina Lis</ref> or the '''Puritan work ethic''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Ryken |first=Leland |date=2010 |title=Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox7aNVgljlMC&pg=PT51 |publisher=Harper Collins |pages=51– |isbn=978-0-310-87428-7}}</ref> is a [[work ethic]] concept in [[sociology]], [[economics]], and [[history]]. It emphasizes that a person's subscription to the values espoused by the [[Protestantism|Protestant faith]], particularly [[Calvinism]], result in [[diligence]], [[discipline]], and [[frugality]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Protestant Ethic|url=http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/protesta.htm|website=Believe: Religious Information Source|access-date=2016-02-10|archive-date=2017-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819144957/http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/protesta.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

The phrase was initially coined in 1905 by sociologist [[Max Weber]] in his book ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weber|first=Max|title=The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism|orig-year=First published 1905|translator-first=Talcott|translator-last=Parsons|date=2003|publisher=Dover| location=New York|isbn=9780486122373}}</ref> Weber asserted that Protestant ethics and values, along with the Calvinist doctrines of [[asceticism]] and [[predestination]], enabled the rise and spread of [[capitalism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tutor2u.net/sociology/reference/sociology-weber-calvinism-and-spirit-of-modern-capitalism|title=Weber, Calvinism and the Spirit of Modern…|date=March 22, 2020|website=tutor2u}}</ref> Just as priests and caring professionals are deemed to have a [[vocation]] (or "calling" from God) for their work, according to the Protestant work ethic the "lowly" workman also has a noble vocation which he can fulfill through dedication to his work.

Weber's book is one of the most influential and cited in sociology, although the thesis presented has been controversial since its release. In opposition to Weber, historians such as [[Fernand Braudel]] and [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]] assert that the Protestant work ethic did not create capitalism and that capitalism developed in pre-[[Reformation]] Catholic communities. Historian Laurence R. Iannaccone has written that "the most noteworthy feature of the Protestant Ethic thesis is its absence of empirical support."<ref name=iannaccone>{{cite journal |last1=Iannaccone |first1=Laurence R. |title=Introduction to the Economics of Religion |journal=Journal of Economic Literature |date=1998 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=1465–1495 |jstor=2564806 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2564806 |issn=0022-0515}}</ref>

The concept is often credited with helping to define the self-view of societies of Northern, Central and [[Northwestern Europe]] as well as the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ward |first=Charles |date=September 1, 2007 |title=Protestant work ethic that took root in faith is now ingrained in our culture |url=http://www.chron.com/lifestyle/houston-belief/amp/Protestant-work-ethic-that-took-root-in-faith-is-1834963.php |work=Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Luzer |first=Daniel |date=September 4, 2013 |title=The Protestant Work Ethic is Real |url=https://psmag.com/.amp/economics/protestant-worth-ethic-real-65544 |work=Pacific Standard }}</ref>