Culture Differences Concerning Time

 

             Culture Differences Concerning Time


    I have recently been learning a lot of interesting things about Cultural Differences. This time I want to mention time, or rather the difference in the American (USA)  and the American (Central and Southern countries) culture in regards to time.
    I will be taking this blog post from Professor Ivers' BYUI lesson of the same title as this blog post. His video lesson can be found here:   https://video.byui.edu/media/04+Cultural+differences+in+Concerning+TIME/0_1cjop6lc.
    There are two distinct cultural ways time is expressed: polychronic and monochronic. In the USA and most European countries, we are a monochronic culture. Monochronic cultures focus on doing one thing at a time. In the USA, when we set an appointment, we expect it to start on time. We expect the other person to be on time. Starting on time is may be more important than the relationship with that person.
    In a polychronic time culture, more than one thing is done at a time. Also, relationships matter more than timely appointments. People are more important. 
    In Ivers' video, an example of each time culture was given through the medium of a barbershop appointment. In a monochronic culture, an appt. for 3 pm starts at 3 pm. If it is starts late, people get upset. Polychronic cultures are more fluid. A 3 pm appt. may not start on time. People understand that there may be extenuating circumstances. The relationship with the barber is more important. Conversely, the barber's relationship with another client (the reason the appt. is late) is more important.
    

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 17, 2021 at 5:44 PM

    Scott, thank you for your post. I thoroughly enjoy reading about Ivers. He is a great lecturer. The barbershop example you gave reminds me of a saying back home its called "running on Hawaiian time." This basically means we run on our own time and we show up whenever we decide to which is usually late. This is such a huge cultural phenomenon that workplaces began listing start times in parentheses (not Hawaiian time) is usually posted.

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