The purpose of this paper is to measure polychronicity in Spain, traditionally typified as having a polychronic culture, characterized by a multifocused working environment.
A sample of 134 executives from 19 organizations in Madrid completed a questionnaire on polychronicity (working on more than one task at a time), time tangibility (precision in time use and performance), context (direct or indirect communication) and attention to people (whether people are dealt with spontaneously or in a more scheduled manner).
Contrary to what was expected in light of the traditional image of Spain, results indicate a tendency towards monochronicity. Gender and age did not show a relation with polychronicity. Time tangibility and context were also unrelated to polychronicity. A previously unmeasured variable, implied in Hall's original work, the spontaneous attention to people in establishing and maintaining good work relations, was positively related to polychronicity. Having worked for a multinational was also positively related to polychronicity.
The study was undertaken in Madrid only and focused on differences within a Spanish sample and no cross‐cultural comparison was made.
As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study of polychronicity in Spain. Social interaction, coined previously as an explanation for polychronic behavior, was added in this paper.
