Pace of Life, Punctuality, and Coronary Heart Disease in Six Countries

Abstract

Cross-cultural differences in attitudes and behaviors concerning time, punctuality, and pace of life, and the relationship of these measures to coronary heart disease, were investigated in a series of studies in Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Italy, England, and the United States. Study 1 found that public clocks were most accurate in the most economically developed countries (Japan and the United States) and least accurate in the least developed country (Indonesia). Study 2 measured average walking speed during main business hours. Walking speed was fastest in Japan and slowest in Indonesia. Also, subjects in smaller cities tended to walk slower than those in larger cities. Study 3 measured average time taken to complete a standardized postal request. Work speed was again fastest in Japan. Italy was slowest. There were high intercorrelations within cities for the above three measures. Next, the findings from the first three studies were related to incidence of coronary heart disease. Despite the lack of available mortality statistics for Taiwan and Indonesia, some interesting trends questioning the cross-cultural generality of the relationship between Type A behaviors and coronary heart disease emerged. Finally, in a questionnaire study conducted mostly in the United States, the relationship between scores on a measure of Type A behavior characteristics and subjects' reported frequency of lateness, feelings after being late, perceptions of what constitutes late and early, attributions for lateness, and ratings of the importance of punctuality in a business person and in a friend were investigated.