Twenty years later, Hall & Hall (1990) come with new insight:
Monochronic people do one thing at a time, concentrate on the job, take time commitments (deadlines, schedules) seriously, are low context and need information, are committed to the job, adhere religiously to plans, are concerned about not disturbing others and follow rules of privacy and consideration, show great respect for private property and seldom borrow or lend, emphasize promptness and are accustomed to short-term relationships. Polychronic people do many things at once, are easily distracted and subject to interruption, consider time commitments an objective to be achieved, are high context and already have information, are committed to people and human relationships, change plans often and easily, are more concerned with people closely related (family, friends, close business associates) than with privacy, borrow and lend things often and easily, base promptness on the relationship, have strong tendency to build lifetime relationships (p. 15).
Dominant Euro-American cultures – my background – were described as being low-context and following monochronic time. In contrast, dominant Latin and Middle-Eastern cultures – the latter being my friend’s background – were described as being high-context and following polychronic time.
