DIFFERING CONCEPTIONS OF TIME

Culture has a great influence on how we think, feel, and act. In fact, some cultural anthropologists even think that culture is a kind of template¹ for our thoughts and feelings. One of the most basic aspects of any culture is the concept of time.

According to anthropologist Irving Hallowell, there is no evidence that people have an inborn² sense of time. Hence, our temporal concepts are products of civilization and, more specifically, individual cultures. And studies suggest that children adapt to their temporal culture at a very young age. This temporal culture forms the basis for our participation in and enjoyment of language, music, poetry, and dance. And while we often take it for granted, the natural rhythms that underlie such pastimes are one reason people from similar cultures have an easier time forming bonds. Small differences can easily make someone from another culture appear "pushy" or "lazy."

Of course, cultures differ in how daily events are scheduled and in how different parts of society interact. Sociologists³ break such issues down into cultural perceptions⁴. One type of cultural- temporal perception is polychronic. This kind of perception is often a characteristic of cultures with warmer climates, such as in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern countries. These cultures emphasize the involvement of people and a variety of processes rather than strictly following a preset schedule. Polychronic peoples seldom feel that time is wasted or lacking simply because events don't occur on schedule. They tend to do many things at the same time, and they may appear easily distracted to people more accustomed to strict scheduling. They are more committed to interpersonal dynamics than time schedules. For polychronic peoples, work time is often inseparables⁵ from personal time, so business meetings will often be a form of socializing. Also, they are inclined toward very close relationships within select⁶ circles and like to build lifetime relationships.

Monochronic cultures, on the other hand, are oriented toward tasks and schedules. This monochronic approach is often seen in the cultures of colder climates-for example, in northern European countries or the Northeast coast of the United States. Monochronic peoples have a more concrete and less flexible concept of time, and such cultures may believe “time is money.” More accustomed to short- term rather than lifetime relationships, monochronic peoples value privacy highly.

As you might expect, people from polychronic and monochronic cultures have difficulties in adjusting to each other and often have cultural misunderstandings. For example, because monochronic cultures are highly compartmentalized, monochronic peoples tend to sequence conversations as well as tasks. They would not, for instance, interrupt a phone call in order to greet another person who just came into the room. In contrast, some polychronic peoples would consider it rude not to greet a third person even if they were talking on the phone. Similarly, they might bring up topics in business situations that people from monochronic cultures would wait to discuss on a break or at lunch. Across cultures, this might make one person seem frivolous⁷, and the other cold or even rude.

With national borders being eroded⁸ in an era of global commerce, such cultural misunderstandings are becoming more apparent. Being late to an appointment, socializing during business meetings, or taking a long time to get down to business is normal in Saudi Arabia or Italy. But these sorts of behaviors will quickly have an American or German glancing at the clock in frustration. Without informed efforts at understanding and bridging such gaps, a small misunderstanding can very easily snowball⁹ into a ruined deal.

Ultimately, with the increase in the globalization of business, entertainment, and even living, learning and understanding cultural differences and being able to meet others halfway will become an important skill.

• civilization
• globalization
• halfway
• interact
• socialize
• temporal

The Importance of Context

Cultural clashes often result from misinterpreting contextual information. Different cultures place varying degrees of emphasis on certain contextual information gathered from the environment during communication.

In this regard, there are generally two types of cultures: high-context cultures and low- context cultures. High-context cultures, like those in many East Asian and Middle Eastern countries, assign a lot of importance to the environment surrounding a message; consequently, the meaning of the message itself is often implicit. In order to understand what is being said, the speakers must first understand the situation and the participants' relationship to each other. These cultures place less value on the specific meaning of words and more on implied themes.

In contrast, low-context cultures like Germany or America place more importance on the message itself, which is generally much more explicit. For low-context speakers, communication is more detailed and specific since external factors are not emphasized nearly as much. Every word is meaningful, and precision is often important.

Like temporal differences, contextual differences are often very apparent in the business world. For example, a business contract from Japan tends to be comparatively short since much of the information is implied and understood within the high-context Japanese culture. This culture expects you to understand its "unwritten" rules. A contract from America, however, is designed to not take anything for granted. It tends to be longer and much more detailed. More explanation is needed to make sure that there were no misunderstandings.