Punctuality

As punctuality is the ability of a person to comply with an agreed time or a date precisely. Punctuality is in post-industrial societies hand in hand with reliability and courtesy. She was and still is considered next to industry and frugality as so-called civic virtue. In transport timetables are or flight plan is called punctuality.

Importance of punctuality

In cultures where time plays such an important role as in the post-industrial society (time is money ), the social importance of punctuality has increased greatly. Tardiness is considered rude and a delay that exceeds a certain tolerance limit can be perceived as an insult and disrespect. Who travels a lot or his own environment often leaves a fine feeling for the sense of time people must develop, as time-related social rules can change quickly, even within a given culture. So it is for example in German Switzerland as polite to arrive about five minutes before the appointed time - in Romandie but about five minutes after the appointed time. A different use of time can therefore lead to large communication problems or even conflicts (see also culture shock).

Development of sense of time

In everyday life of aligned on agriculture companies has exact second punctuality usually no meaning. Temporal orientation focuses more on the face the sun, the moon cycles and the seasons and climatic changes. In such an environment watches have only minor importance and serve more than a rough guide.

In trade- based societies, a reinforced sense of time be determined: merchants, craftsmen, and money lenders consider the added time to calculate their performance. A more precise breakdown of time units as well as increased efficiency and productivity ( = production per unit of time) are the logical consequence. The time gets a prize and becomes a valuable resource. This situation corresponded in Central Europe in about the late Middle Ages, which then also in 1300 found a technical correspondence with the invention of the mechanical wheel clock. With the large- scale introduction of clocks in the cities of medieval Europe, the actions of the townspeople were predictable and controllable - Punctuality began to be important. The more precise instruments for measuring time became, the more punctual, more precisely in time, people had to align their activities.

Punctuality in different cultures

Modern Western societies have a linear, horizontal understanding of time, which is closely coupled with the concept of progress, which in our system of values ​​an important role is attributed. In Eastern cultures, or among primitive peoples, the time is cyclical or vertically, ie in several simultaneously co-existing time lines, perceived. Companies with a horizontal view of time sharing their time and have a tendency to plan every minute of their actions, and therefore place great emphasis on punctuality. However, people in societies with a vertical conception of time behave in this respect more flexible. The anthropologist Edward T. Hall ( see references ) speaks of monochronic and polychronic cultures.

Punctuality in polychronic cultures

The timing in cultures with a vertical or cyclical understanding of time is often relatively flexible, and therefore, the punctuality is only a subordinate role. People in societies with polychronem time understanding have time. In interpersonal relationships and communications of the correct completion of the interaction is more important than adherence to a whatever kind of schedule.

Punctuality in monochronic cultures

In Northern Europe, Germany, Japan and the United States there is a monochronic attitude towards the time: There is only one time; it is assumed that appointments with details of times and plans that are associated with periods of time, are strictly adhered to. The division of time is often tightly organized so that tardiness of a single component of the planning - for example, the railway, the bus, the airplane or the traffic jam on the highway - may jeopardize the success of the planning.

Even interpersonal relationships are organized according to the clock, punctuality is often subordinated to the needs of interaction.

Conflicts

Where monochronic and polychronic cultures meet, there must inevitably be conflicts. So drove the "chronic tardiness of the natives " already Christian missionaries in Africa and Polynesia in the 16th century almost to despair. Robert Levine ( see references ) mentioned many examples also from the 20th century, also experienced myself. For example, the people of South America " late morning " meant by an appointment by 10 clock rather, that is any time between about 9 clock 30 and lunch and are thus inevitably unpunctual on the Western concept of time. In many countries, for this reason, business opening times or the timetables of public transport, even if they are provided with times to interpret rather relative and subject to many other influences than the clock. In a monochronic society as in Germany or Switzerland, however, already regular unpunctuality a few minutes in the car are a political issue.