Also strikes me as related to the core difference in views on mental health (Western analytical psychology a la Jung vs Eastern demonological/mystical)
It’s the imperative of capitalist production, really. The “Protestant Work Ethic” was coined long after the imperative of productivity had been noticed and written at length about (e.g., see Marx, Proudhon, Smith, et al.).
It's our protestant roots and the very Calvinist view of success, really. There's a reason they call it the Protestant Work Ethic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic