Indeed. As a European, my time in academia very well illustrated this cultural divide. The first conference I ever went to as a completely fresh PhD student was in the US. The conference was naturally dominated by American PhD students. They were very nice and all, but the amount of effort they spent just to out-do each other in stories of amount of time worked was shocking to me. Of course, academic research is hard, and sometimes requires putting in late evenings, especially close to deadlines. But these young students were falling over themselves out-doing each other with tales of their regular graveyard sessions and soul-crushing lives.

I felt dismayed and sad. Was this life in academia? Luckily, only a short while later I went to another conference, this one dominated by European PhD students. More chill discussions over a beer at five o'clock, more talk about people's hobbies and free time. Still, hard work, but also life. I was relieved.

I have not been exposed to the work life of "ordinary" Americans, but all the stories seem to indicate that this attitude is pervasive. It's sad, I think. And certainly unhealthy. And it must also make work culture unbearable for Americans that do value a healthier work-life balance.