I definitely don't think it's intrinsically generated. The reality at ground level is that your manager will almost always fill your plate at least a bit higher than you can reasonably fit in, because there is always room to do more work until there isn't. The more you can do, the better your manager looks.

There's another important dynamic: your manager will often be able to get more done in the same time than you will if your manager does it himself/herself, because the manager is typically more experienced and wields power in a way that you can't. This stays true for each step up the hierarchy. Since managers often gauge a reasonable amount of work for the employee based on how long it takes the manager, there's a disconnect in anticipated workload too.

Finally, the higher you go, the more you are able to buy into a strategy and vision. If you're at ground level, executing on that strategy often means spending days squashing bugs. It's much harder to buy into the big picture when your immediate picture looks like more of the same as everywhere else.

Not to say "you shouldn't work hard," but I do think there are structural reasons why ground level is a less motivating place to be.