Editing Protestant work ethic (section)

==Support==

Late 20th century works by [[Lawrence Harrison (academic)|Lawrence Harrison]], [[Samuel P. Huntington]], and [[David Landes]] revitalized interest {{where|date=November 2023}} in Weber's thesis.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In a ''[[New York Times]]'' article, published on June 8, 2003, [[Niall Ferguson]] claimed, using data from the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), that "the experience of Western Europe in the past quarter-century offers an unexpected confirmation of the Protestant ethic", that the reason that people in modern Protestant Western European nations actually work fewer hours on average than in the Catholic ones or in the United States is due to a decline in active Protestantism.<ref>{{cite news|first=Niall|last=Ferguson|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/08/weekinreview/the-world-why-america-outpaces-europe-clue-the-god-factor.html |title=The World; Why America Outpaces Europe (Clue: The God Factor) |work=The New York Times |date=June 8, 2003 |access-date=September 19, 2011}}</ref>

=== Individuals ===
There are studies of the existence and impact of the so-called Protestant Ethic on individuals.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872679705000701 | doi=10.1177/001872679705000701 | title=The Protestant Ethic: Weber's Model and the Empirical Literature | journal=Human Relations | date=July 1997 | volume=50 | issue=7 | pages=757–778 | last1=Jones | first1=Harold B. | s2cid=146171646 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> A study at the [[University of Groningen]] shows that unemployed Protestants fare much worse than the general population psychologically.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://hbr.org/daily-stat/2013/08/there-really-is-such-a-thing-a.html | title=There Really is Such a Thing as the Protestant Work Ethic | journal=Harvard Business Review | date=August 29, 2013 | last1=O'Connell | first1=Andrew }}</ref>

=== United States ===
The original New England Colonies in 1677 were mostly Protestant in origin and exhibited industriousness and respect for laws.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://faculty.washington.edu/ewebb/R301/Protestantism.html | title=Protestantism in America }}</ref>

[[File:New-england-colonies-in-1677.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Some of the original New England Colonies in 1677]]

Pastor John Starke writes that the Protestant work ethic "multiplied myths about Protestantism, Calvinism, vocation, and capitalism. To this day, many believe Protestants work hard so as to build evidence for salvation."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-myth-of-the-protestant-work-ethic/|title=The Myth of the Protestant Work Ethic|first=John|last=Starke|date=16 June 2017 }}</ref>

Some support exists that the Protestant work ethic may be so ingrained in American culture that when it appears people may not recognize it.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.chron.com/life/houston-belief/article/Protestant-work-ethic-that-took-root-in-faith-is-1834963.php | title=Protestant work ethic that took root in faith is now ingrained in our culture | newspaper=Chron | date=September 2007 }}</ref>  Due to the history of Protestantism in the United States, it may be difficult to separate the successes of the country from the ethic that may have significantly contributed to propelling it.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

=== Contrast with prosperity theology ethic ===
[[Tshilidzi Marwala]] asserted in 2020 that the principles of Protestant ethic are important for development in [[Africa]] and that they should be secularized and used as an alternative to the ethic of [[Prosperity theology|Prosperity Christianity]], which advocates miracles as a basis of development.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Tscilidzi|last=Marwala|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-11-29-a-protestant-work-ethic-and-not-the-flash-and-glamour-of-prosperity-christianity-is-what-africa-needs/ | title=A Protestant work ethic, and not the flash and glamour of Prosperity Christianity, is what Africa needs| date=November 29, 2020|access-date=November 23, 2022}}</ref>

In a recent journal article, Benjamin Kirby agrees that this influence of prosperity theology, particularly within [[Neo-charismatic movement|neo-Pentecostal movements]], complicates any attempt to draw parallels between, first, the relationship between contemporary Pentecostalism and [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] capitalism, and second, the relationship between Calvinistic asceticism and modern capitalism that interested Weber. Nevertheless, Kirby emphasises the enduring relevance of Weber's analysis: he proposes a "new elective affinity" between contemporary Pentecostalism and neoliberal capitalism, suggesting that neo-Pentecostal churches may act as vehicles for embedding neoliberal economic processes, for instance by encouraging practitioners to become entrepreneurial, [[Governmentality#Responsibilisation|responsibilised]] citizens.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2019.1573767 | doi=10.1080/0048721X.2019.1573767 | title=Pentecostalism, economics, capitalism: Putting ''the Protestant Ethic'' to work | year=2019 | last1=Kirby | first1=Benjamin | journal=Religion | volume=49 | issue=4 | pages=571–591 | s2cid=182190916 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>