Chronemics.docx

Chronemics.docx

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Chronemics

Chronemics

Chronemicsisthestudyoftheuseoftimeinnonverbalcommunication.Thewayweperceivetime,structureourtimeandreacttotimeisapowerfulcommunicationtool,andhelpssetthestageforthecommunicationprocess.Acrosscultures,timeperceptionplaysalargeroleinthenonverbalcommunicationprocess.Timeperceptionsincludepunctuality,willingnesstowait,andinteractions.Theuseoftimecanaffectlifestyles,dailyagendas,speedofspeech,movementsandhowlongpeoplearewillingtolisten.

Timecanalsobeusedasanindicatorofstatus.Forexample,inmostcompaniesthebosscaninterruptprogresstoholdanimpromptumeetinginthemiddleoftheworkday,yettheaverageworkerwouldhavetomakeanappointmenttoseetheboss.Thewaydifferentculturesperceivetimecaninfluencecommunicationaswell.

Culturesareusuallyputintotwotimesystemcategories:

monochronicandpolychronic.

MonochronicandPolychronicTime

Monochronicandpolychronictimesystemsaretwotermsusedtorefertotimeanditsinfluenceonsociety.

MonochronicTime

Amonochronictimesystemmeansthatthingsaredoneoneatatimeandtimeissegmentedintoprecise,smallunits.Underthissystemtimeisscheduled,arrangedandmanaged.

TheUnitedStatesisconsideredamonochronicsociety.ThisperceptionoftimeislearnedandrootedintheIndustrialRevolution,where"factoryliferequiredthelaborforcetobeonhandandinplaceatanappointedhour"（Guerrero,DeVito&Hecht,1999,p.238）.ForAmericans,timeisapreciousresourcenottobewastedortakenlightly."Webuytime,savetime,spendtimeandmaketime.Ourtimecanbebrokendownintoyears,months,days,hours,minutes,secondsandevenmilliseconds.Weusetimetostructurebothourdailylivesandeventsthatweareplanningforthefuture.Wehaveschedulesthatwemustfollow:

appointmentsthatwemustgotoatacertaintime,classesthatstartandendatcertaintimes,workschedulesthatstartandendatcertaintimes,andevenourfavoriteTVshows,thatstartandendatacertaintime.”[1]

AscommunicationscholarEdwardT.HallwroteregardingtheAmerican’sviewpointoftimeinthebusinessworld,“thescheduleissacred.”Hallsaysthatformonochroniccultures,suchastheAmericanculture,“timeistangible”andviewedasacommoditywhere“timeismoney”or“timeiswasted.”TheresultofthisperspectiveisthatAmericansandothermonochroniccultures,suchastheGermanandSwiss,placeaparamountvalueonschedules,tasksand“gettingthejobdone.”Theseculturesarecommittedtoregimentedschedulesandmayviewthosewhodonotsubscribetothesameperceptionoftimeasdisrespectful.

MonochronicculturesincludeGermany,Canada,Switzerland,UnitedStates,andScandinavia.

PolychronicTime

Mainarticle:

Polychronicity

Apolychronictimesystemisasystemwhereseveralthingscanbedoneatonce,andamorefluidapproachistakentoschedulingtime.UnlikeAmericansandmostnorthernandwesternEuropeancultures,LatinAmericanandArabicculturesusethepolychronicsystemoftime.

Theseculturesaremuchlessfocusedontheprecisenessofaccountingforeachandeverymoment.AsRaymondCohennotes,polychronicculturesaredeeplysteepedintraditionratherthanintasks—acleardifferencefromtheirmonochroniccounterparts.Cohennotesthat"Traditionalsocietieshaveallthetimeintheworld.Thearbitrarydivisionsoftheclockfacehavelittlesaliencyinculturesgroundedinthecycleoftheseasons,theinvariantpatternofrurallife,andthecalendarofreligiousfestivities"（Cohen,1997,p.34）.

Instead,theircultureismorefocusedonrelationships,ratherthanwatchingtheclock.Theyhavenoproblembeing“late”foraneventiftheyarewithfamilyorfriends,becausetherelationshipiswhatreallymatters.Asaresult,polychroniccultureshaveamuchlessformalperceptionoftime.Theyarenotruledbyprecisecalendarsandschedules.Rather,“culturesthatusethepolychronictimesystemoftenschedulemultipleappointmentssimultaneouslysokeepingonscheduleisanimpossibility.”[2]

PolychronicculturesincludeSaudiArabia,Egypt,Mexico,NewOrleans,Philippines,Pakistan,India,andmanyinAfrica.

Predictablepatternsbetweencultureswithdifferingtimesystems

MonochronicPeople

PolychronicPeople

doonethingatatime

domanythingsatonce

concentrateonthejob

arehighlydistractibleandsubjecttointerruptions

taketimecommitments（deadlines,schedules）seriously

consideranobjectivetobeachieved,ifpossible

arelow-contextandneedinformation

arehigh-contextandalreadyhaveinformation

committedtothejob

arecommittedtopeopleandhumanrelationships

adherereligiouslytoplans

changeplansoftenandeasily

areconcernedaboutnotdisturbingothers;followrulesofprivacyandconsideration

aremoreconcernedwiththosewhoarecloselyrelatedthanwithprivacy

showgreatrespectforprivateproperty;seldomborroworlend

borrowandlendthingsoftenandeasily

emphasizepromptness

basepromptnessontherelationship

areaccustomedtoshort-termrelationships

havestrongtendencytobuildlifetimerelationships

Co-CulturalPerspectivesonTime

Whiletheclashbetweenthemonochronicandpolychronicperceptionsoftimecanriflethebestofintentionsininternationalsettings,similarchallengescanoccurwithinaco-culture.IntheUnitedStates,theHawaiiancultureprovidesanexampleofhowco-culturescanclash.TwotimesystemsexistinHawaii,where“thePolynesianslivesomewherebetweentwotimesystems:

HaoletimeandHawaiiantime.Whenyouhearsomeonesay“Seeyouattwoo’clockhaoletime,”thatmeansthattheywillseeyouatpreciselytwoo’clock.Butifyouhearsomeonesay,“Iwillbethereattwoo’clockHawaiiantime”thenthemessagehasanentirelydifferentmeaning.ThisisbecauseHawaiiantimeisverylaxandbasicallymeans“whenyougetthere.”[2]WithintheNativeAmericancommunity,thesamerelaxedconcernforpunctualityisdominant.Commentslike"We'reonIndiantime,asusual"iscommonlyheardatmanycommunityevents.Eldersgivecalmingreassurancethatthings"willhappenwhentheyhappen"and"thingshappenwhentheyaresupposedtohappen",implyingthereisareasonbehinditall,evenifitmightnotbeapparentatthemoment.Moreover,itisacommonvernacularforindividualsorginatingfrompolychronicareasthatareinhabitingamonochronicenviornment,tojokeabouttheirlaxedchronalhabits-humourslysayingcommentslike,"wefollowDSTtimezone-Desistandardtime."

TimeOrientations

Thewayanindividualperceivestimeandtheroletimeplaysintheirlivesisalearnedperspective.AsdiscussedbyAlexanderGonzalezandPhillipZimbardo,"everychildlearnsatimeperspectivethatisappropriatetothevaluesandneedsofhissociety"（Guerrero,DeVito&Hecht,1999,p.227）.

Therearefourbasicpsychologicaltimeorientations:

1.Past

2.Time-line

3.Present

4.Future

Eachorientationaffectsthestructure,content,andurgencyofcommunication（Burgoon,1989）.Thepastorientationhasahardtimedevelopingthenotionofelapsedtimeandtheseindividualsoftenconfusepresentandpasthappeningsasallinthesame.Peopleorientedwithtime-linecognitivityareoftendetailorientedandthinkofeverythinginlinearterms.Theseindividualsalsooftenhavedifficultywithcomprehendingmultipleeventsatthesametime.Individualswithapresentorientationaremostlycharacterizedaspleasureseekerswholiveforthemomentandhaveaverylowriskaversion.Thoseindividualswhooperatewithfutureorientationareoftenthoughtofasbeinghighlygoalorientedandfocusedonthebroadpicture.

Theuseoftimeasacommunicativechannelcanbeapowerful,yetsubtle,forceinface-to-faceinteractions.Someofthemorerecognizabletypesofinteractionthatusetimeare:

∙Regulatinginteraction:

Thisisshowntoaidintheorderlytransitionofconversationalturn-taking.Whenthespeakerisopeningthefloorforaresponse,theywillpause.However,whennoresponseisdesired,thespeakerwilltalkafasterpacewithminimalpause.（Capella,1985）

∙Expressingintimacy:

Asrelationshipsbecomemoreintimate,certainchangesaremadetoaccommodatethenewrelationshipstatus.Someofthechangesthataremadeincludelengtheningthetimespentonmutualgazes,increasingtheamountoftimedoingtasksfororwiththeotherpersonandplanningforthefuturebymakingplanstospendmoretimetogether（Patterson,1990）.

∙Affectmanagement:

Theonsetofpowerfulemotionscancauseastrongeraffect,rangingfromjoytosorroworeventoembarrassment.Someofthebehaviorsassociatedwithnegativeaffectsincludedecreasedtimeofgazeandawkwardlylongpausesduringconversations.Whenthishappens,itiscommonfortheindividualstotryanddecreaseanynegativeaffectsandsubsequentlystrengthenpositiveaffects（Edelman&Iwawaki,1987）.

∙EvokingEmotion:

Timecanbeusedtoevokeemotionsinaninterpersonalrelationshipbycommunicatingthevalueoftherelationship.Forexample,whensomeonewhoyouhaveacloserelationshipwithislate,youmaynottakeitpersonally,especiallyifthatischaracteristicofthem.However,ifitisameetingwithatotalstranger,theirdisrespectforthevalueofyourtimemaybetakenpersonallyandcouldevencauseyoutodisplaynegativeemotionsifandwhentheydoarriveforthemeeting.

∙Facilitatingserviceandtaskgoals:

Professionalsettingscansometimesgiverisetointerpersonalrelationswhicharequitedifferentfromother"normal"interactions.Forexample,thesocietalnormsthatdictateminimaltouchbetweenstrangersareclearlyalteredifonem