University of São Paulo: “Quiet Quitting”, a phenomenon on social media, is a form of reaction to real life

Quiet Quitting became known after gaining social media, more specifically TikTok, in which several profiles shared what this phenomenon would be and how to join the movement. In 2020, the United States was faced with a movement that gained the name of The Great Resignation , which reverberates to this day and led 4.5 million Americans to voluntary resignation in the month of May alone.

Quiet Quitting is, in a way, related to this mass resignation. “It’s a term that, in free translation, means ‘silent resignation’. And it concerns the behavior of doing the least at work”, explains Natália Lins Brandão, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology at USP. One of the causes may be that, in the period of the pandemic, the boundaries between work hours and leisure hours, as well as the physical state of home and work, ended up getting mixed up. This led to complete exhaustion, as worrying became a 24-hour job. During this period, many people saw that their work could be done remotely, without losing productivity.

Superficially, it is said that it is a generational movement that has to do with the lack of wanting or lack of motivation to work. This would cause many workers to give up their jobs or fail to pay more than what was agreed upon at the time of hiring. On the other hand, silent dismissal is much more than that. It is not, therefore, just about discouragement or those who choose to do the least, but it can be a response to the excessive demand for productivity and delivery. Many see no future in the company where they are employed, are psychologically separated from their job, or are not satisfied with the job description. Also, most people who start acting this way are looking for new jobs.

“Perhaps the problem is precisely in the expectation, on the part of the employer, that that person must always, at all times, do and go beyond. This has provoked a reaction in people, it has provoked a reaction in this new generation”, explains Natália.

The role of managers
According to a study published in the Harvard Business Review , Quiet Quitting “has more to do with the inability of managers to maintain good communication than with the unwillingness of employees. Trusting your leadership greatly influences how you behave at work, and the more a leader openly talks to his or her subordinate, the higher the level of trust. This results in a feeling that their work has some purpose, that the effort is worthwhile, and that the manager cares about their well-being.”

Natalia, however, recalls that this phenomenon does not affect the working class in its entirety: “This is not hegemonic, it has a class cut”. The researcher also points out that people who cannot choose between working or not, often cannot opt ​​for Quiet Quitting .

The psychological question
According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index 2021 study , most of the workforce is overworked and facing some kind of problem. Among Generation Z (people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s), this number stands at 60%. Because of this, critics of the phenomenon tend to minimize it by associating all this with a generational issue.


Sigmar Malvezzi, professor at the Department of Social Psychology at USP, says that the problem can be generational, in the sense that, due to the speed with which society moves and is highly connected, people become more insecure about themselves because of of a weakening of its subjectification. “That’s why today many individuals outsource their lives. So they pass it on to others, right? It is because they are no longer able to overcome cognitive insecurity and emotional insecurity to feel like a subject capable of facing what is in front of them. He feels weakened and goes to get crutches,” he explains.

By resorting to these crutches, which can range from procrastination to listening to music, the individual is denying his reality. “I deny the existence of the pressure, as if I don’t recognize it. And then I adapt, putting my life at my pace,” says Sigmar. People who practice Quiet Quitting , then, are not just feeling unmotivated, but it is their way of dealing with external pressure. The professor also explains that these are individuals who are not adapted to the environment and who, because of this, have greater difficulty in dealing with life’s setbacks in a mature way. It is a defense reaction of the subject.

Burnout and Quiet Quitting
“People have different ways of reacting to this external pressure. One of them is in the sense that psychology calls intratension, which causes Burnout – mental illness resulting from stressful situations at work or in studies – and the other is extratension, in which Quiet Quitting is”, explains Sigmar.

There are two ways to react to the great responsibilities and the diverse demands of today’s world, one of them is Burnout and the other is Quiet Quitting . “They are not complementary, equal, or a progression of one another. In fact, they are different responses to the same situation: one is the result of internalized tension and the other is the way to deal with it on the outside.”

A person may have had Burnout and start practicing Quiet Quitting , or vice versa. Burnout, in turn, does not lead to Quiet Quitting, nor does it generate that one: they are homologous.