The self-image within the company becomes a foundation of identity.

Any challenge to the hold system is experienced as a threat to this image. This is where emotional dependence becomes crucial: the company is no longer just a place of activity, but a mirror and a structuring system for the continuous construction of identity.

The need for belonging, recognition, or loyalty—far from being individual pathologies—are actively cultivated by managerial systems that call on everyone to "go beyond themselves," "embody the values," or "carry the vision." What the individual risks by detaching themselves is therefore not only potentially a job, but a form of existential coherence, an identity crisis, and pseudo-friendships.

This logic echoes the forms of identity alienation analyzed by Axel Honneth (1995), where the lack of recognition becomes a source of moral suffering in its own right. The company no longer merely exploits labor; it becomes a factory that transforms and exploits identity.

Dependence is no longer just economic but existential.

The individual experiences moments of clarity and periodically expresses a desire for change: adjusting work hours, setting boundaries, leaving their position. These realizations, often triggered by a lack of financial reward, relational conflicts, a period of under-recognized work, or remarks from their social circle, lead to attempts at readjustment… that quickly fail. Not out of bad will, but because the attachment structure to work has not been dismantled.

This hold reveals a vicious circle: personal fulfillment is now indexed to professional performance, and the individual develops a compulsive need for constant recognition and validation that reinforces their dependence on the system. This logic seems to exploit the brain’s reward circuits, creating a true behavioral addiction.

This is an extract from my research on Max-out.

🧠 Does this interest you ?
👉 10 simple questions test : https://www.philippevivier.com/en/how-to-self-evaluate-your-relationship-to-work-ten-questions-to-detect-a-max-out.html
📄 Or read the free foundational article that presents Jean Claude’s case: https://zenodo.org/records/16790124