A geography of time : the temporal misadventures of a social psychologist, or how every culture keeps time just a little bit differently

279 Pages·1997·86.253 MB·English

by  Robert Levine

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or how every cuLture keeps time just a LittLe bit differentLy
Robert Levine
The Temporal Misadventures of a
Social Psychologist, or
How Every Culture Keeps Time
Just a Little Bit Differently
I
@J ~(o)@J~lA\)jDlliJW
(Q)IF
ROBERT LEVINE
B
BOCJ<S
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright © 1997 by Robert Levine.
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of Amer
ica. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
and reviews. For information address Basic Books, 10 East
53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
Designed by Elliott Beard
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levine, Robert, 1945-
A geography of time: the temporal misadventures of a
social psychologist, or how every culture keeps time just a
little bit differently / by Robert Levine. - 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index
ISBN o-465~2892-6 (cloth)
ISBN <r465-Q2642-7 (paper)
1. Time-Social aspects. 2. Time perception. 3. Time
perception--Cross-cultural studies. 4. Cultural relativism.
5. Life style. I. Title.
HM291.L44 1997
304·2'3-dc21 97-2057
98 99 00 .:-/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
For Trudi, Andy and, of course, Mr. Zach

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments IX
Preface: Time Talks, With an Accent Xl
PART I
Social Time: The Heartbeat of Culture
1 Tempo: The Speed of Life 3
2 Duration: The Psychological Clock 26
3 A Brief History of Clock Time 51
4 Living on Event Time 81
5 Time and Power: The Rules of the Waiting Game 101
PART II
Fast, Slow, and the Quality of Life
6 Where Is Life Fastest? 129
7 Health, Wealth, Happiness, and Charity 153
8 Japan's Contradiction 169
VII
PART III
Changing Pace
9 Time Literacy: Learning the Silent Language
10 Minding Your Time, Timing Your Mind
Notes
Index
VIII CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I
have been surrounded by so many helpful and knowledgeable
students, colleagues, and friends that it is difficult to know
where my ideas begin and where theirs leave off. Let me single
out a few of these people for special thanks. I am indebted to the
following for generously providing insights and stories used in this
book: Neil Altman, Stephen Buggie, Kris Eyssell, Alex Gonzalez,
Eric Hickey, James Jones, the late William Kir-Stimon, Shirley
Kirsten, Todd Martinez, Kuni Miyake, Salvatore Niyonzima, Harry
Reis, Suguru Sato,Jean Traore, Fred Turk, and Jyoti Verma. Here
at my university, Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Jean Ritter, Aroldo Ro
drigues, and Lynnette Zelezny have been indispensable sources of
information and support. Among many other helpful colleagues, I
would like to thank Rick Block, Richard Brislin (whose teachings
were the inspiration for chapter 9), Edward Diener and Harry
Triandis for their teachings about the subjects of time and/or cul
ture, and their willingness to respond to my many requests for
data and information. I cannot say enough about the constant sup
port of Phil Zimbardo-he is not only social psychology's most in
spiring teacher, but perhaps its greatest mensch. I thank Suguru
Sato and Yoshio Sugiyama at Sapporo Medical University, Lars
Nystedt and Anna and Hannes Eisler at Stockholm University, and
IX
the administration at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil
for making my residencies at their universities such successful ex
periences; these adventures are at the heart of this book. I thank
Ellen Wolff who began me on this project many years ago. My wife,
Trudi Thorn, consulted on many aspects of this project, and has al
ways been there when I needed her. Alex Gonzalez, my colleague,
boss, and fellow time traveler, has been a font of guidance and
support during many incarnations of my research program. My
colleague Connie Jones, who has read every word of this manu
script, has been an invaluable surrogate editor and all-around
source of sustenance. Tom Breen, as always, has been just plain
special.
I am indebted to the following people for their help in collect
ing and/or analyzing data in one or more cities in the United
States or other countries: Timothy Baker, Laura Barton, Karen
Bassoni, Stephen Buggie, Brigette Chua, Andy Chuang, Holly
Clark, Lori Conover, John Evans, Kris Eyssell, David Hennessey,
Kim Khoo, Robert Lautner, Marta Lee, Royce Lee, Andy Levine,
Martin Lucia, Thorn Ludwig, Allen Miller, Michiko Moriyama,
Walter Murphy, Carlos Navarette, Julie Parravano, Karen
Philbrick, Harry Reis, Aroldo Rodrigues, Michelle St. Peters, Anne
Sluis, Kerry Sorenson, David Tan, Jyoti Verma, Karen Villerama,
Sachiko Watanabe and Laurie West. Thanks to Philip Halpern for
his technical input. Gary Brase, Karen Lynch, Todd Martinez,
Kuni Miyake and Ara Norenzayan have played particularly pivotal
I
roles in these studies, and thank them all for their assistance and
inspiration.
My agent, Kris Dahl, opened up doors that I didn't know ex
isted. Elizabeth Kaplan came up with the winning title. Gail Win
ston, my editor at Basic Books, has been perfect. Her patient,
positive, expert guidance has helped me hone a series of chapters
into the semblance of a book. I have been fortunate to work with
her.
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
TIME TALKS, WITH
AN ACCENT
Every culture has its own unique set of temporal fin
gerprints. To know a people is to know the time val
ues they live by.
JEREMY RIFKIN, Time Wars
T
ime has intrigued me for as long as I remember. Like most
young Americans, I was initially taught that time is simply
measured by a clock-in seconds and minutes, hours and
days, months and years. But when I looked around at my elders,
the numbers never seemed to add up the same way twice. Why was
it, I wondered, that some adults appeared to be perpetually run
ning out of daylight hours while others seemed to have all the time
in the world? I thought of this second group of people-the ones
who would go to the movies in the middle of the workday or take
their families on six-month sabbaticals to the South Pacific-as
temporal millionaires, and I vowed to become one of them.
When planning my career, I ignored my peers' unwavering con
cern with the amount of money a job would pay and tuned in in
stead to the temporal lifestyle it offered. To what extent would I be
XI