Comment by maeil

https://blogs.transparent.com/dutch/untranslatable-dutch-wor...

There's a large amount of peer pressure to idolize scraping by, and against actually doing your best and putting in effort. While this exists in certain other places too (see classic "jock vs nerd" Hollywood stereotypes), nowhere is it as widespread. Moreso than the intensity - which isn't particularly severe, in the sense that e.g. serious bullying isn't more common than in compare countries - it's how institutional it is that sets it apart, even among a lot of kids who have the potential to do very well and go places if they'd put in a little effort.

Of course YMMV and these things have a large degree of local variance, but there's a reason the linked term exists as a cultural phenemonon there.