The role of relational closeness and situational constraints in allowances for punctuality.

Abstract

Studies have found that the perception of time differs from culture to culture. Along with it, norms of punctuality seem to differ as well under several conditions, such as statuses of persons involved and situational constraints. Punctuality is not as clear cut as many thought and studies found a buffer time for punctuality, termed the On-Time-Window (OTW). A recent study’s results indicated a huge OTW for friends. Thus this study investigated on interpersonal factors that influence OTW: relational closeness. A mediation model was formed regarding relational closeness and OTW, with the attribution bias, actor-observer bias, as the mediator. Effect of situational contexts as a moderator was tested too. A sample of 45 participants filled out a computer questionnaire, while under either a high relational closeness condition or low relational closeness condition. The mediation model and moderator were not supported. However, the main effect of situational contexts on OTW was significant. An interesting trend was observed: the interval of OTW for friends was narrower than expected. The discussion section addressed these trends, its implications in the current fast-paced society and the inherent limitations of the study.