中国一份杂志报道，这个群体被生活的压力捏成各种形态，任由涅拿玩弄，毫无反应。“橡皮人”这个词如今走红中国的网络，而使之名声大噪的正是这家杂志。该杂志说，广义上讲，这个群体大多是白领，他们对生活有些麻木，没有梦想，没有兴趣或者理想，不觉得多么痛苦也不觉得多么开心。
These "plasticine men" can be found among doctors, bank employees, teachers, journalists, traffic policemen, civil servants, actors and taxi drivers, the magazine reported. Typically, they work alone and for more than 50 hours a week. They feel as if they have expended all their energy and all they get in return is a sense of emptiness.
The term comes from a 1986 book, Xiang Pi Ren (Plasticine Man), by still-popular novelist Wang Shuo, that was later made into a film entitled Out Of Breath (Da chuan qi).
该杂志还称，“橡皮人”常见于如下职业：医生、银行员工、教师、记者、交通警察、公务员、演员和出租车司机等。一般来说，这些人习惯于无需分享的孤独工作，每周工作时间超过50个小时。他们觉得似乎耗尽了所有精力，换来的只有空虚感。这个词源于1986年一本名叫《橡皮人》的书，该书作者是至今仍然走红的小说家王朔，该书后来被拍成电影《大喘气》。