Punctuality around the world: how cultures treat time
What counts as "on time" changes from place to place. The anthropologist Edward T. Hall described two styles: monochronic cultures treat time as a line of fixed appointments, while polychronic cultures put people and relationships before the schedule. Neither is lazier or ruder; they follow different rules. But every country has both kinds of people, and business, city size and age matter as much as nationality.
Monochronic and polychronic time
Hall introduced the terms in The Silent Language (1959) and developed them in The Dance of Life (1983).
| Monochronic | Polychronic | |
|---|---|---|
| Time is | A resource to schedule, save or waste | A flow shared with other people |
| Work style | One thing at a time, in order | Several things at once |
| Appointments | Fixed; lateness needs an apology | Approximate; finishing the conversation comes first |
| Often linked with | Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the US, Japan in business | Much of Latin America, the Middle East, Southern Europe and Africa |
These are tendencies, not national rules. A Brazilian surgeon or airline is as punctual as a Swiss one, and a family lunch in Germany can run long.
Measuring the pace of life
In the 1990s the social psychologist Robert Levine and his students measured the pace of life in 31 countries using three tests: how fast people walked 60 feet in city centres, how long a post office took to sell a stamp, and how accurate public clocks were. Switzerland came first, followed by Ireland, Germany and Japan; the slowest places on these measures included Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia. Faster places tended to be richer, colder and more individualistic. Levine wrote it up in A Geography of Time (1997).
Japan: apologising for 20 seconds
Japanese railways are famous for precision. In November 2017 the Tsukuba Express apologised publicly because a train left 20 seconds early, and in 2018 JR West apologised for one that left 25 seconds early. When trains are late, stations hand out a chien shōmeisho, a delay certificate passengers can show at work or school. In Japan, arriving five minutes early is simply "on time".
"Fashionably late" has rules too
In many polychronic places, lateness follows unwritten norms. Arriving at a Mexico City or Buenos Aires dinner party at the exact time on the invitation can catch the host unprepared, and 30 minutes later is polite. Spanish dinner rarely starts before 9 PM. In Nigeria and Ghana people joke about "African time"; in the Philippines it's "Filipino time". In each case the time on the invitation is a starting point, while a flight, a bank or a job interview still runs to the clock.
How to handle time across cultures
- Ask what the time means. "Should we be there at 7 sharp, or is that when people start arriving?" is a normal question.
- Be on time for business almost everywhere, even where social events run late.
- Allow buffers in your plans instead of reading lateness as disrespect.
- Agree the time zone for calls in writing; most "late" video calls are really time-zone mix-ups. The meeting planner and time zone converter help.
Prefer to be precise? Check your clock against the exact time, see what punctual really means, or browse how the world spends its day.
Questions people ask
Which country is the most punctual?
In Robert Levine's pace-of-life study of 31 countries, Switzerland ranked first, followed by Ireland, Germany and Japan. Japan's railways are often called the most punctual in the world.
What is monochronic and polychronic time?
Terms from anthropologist Edward T. Hall. Monochronic cultures treat time as a line of fixed appointments; polychronic cultures handle several things at once and put relationships before the schedule.
Is it rude to be late in Latin America?
For social events, arriving a little after the stated time is often expected. For business meetings, flights and interviews, be on time.
Do Japanese trains really apologise for being early?
Yes. In 2017 the Tsukuba Express apologised for a train that left 20 seconds early, and JR West apologised in 2018 for one that left 25 seconds early.
Sources
- Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language, 1959, and The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time, 1983.
- Robert V. Levine and Ara Norenzayan, "The Pace of Life in 31 Countries", Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1999.
- Robert Levine, A Geography of Time, Basic Books, 1997.
- BBC News, "Japan rail firm apologises for train leaving 20 seconds early", 16 November 2017.