Exploring More than 24 Hours a Day: A Preliminary Investigation of Polychronic Time Use

The present exploratory study investigates the concept of polychronic time use through the development and preliminary testing of a proposed scale, the Polychronic Attitude Index (PAI). Polychronic time use is defined and reviewed in relation to role overload and household demographic characteristics. When a sample of consumers in New Jersey was surveyed, both the PAI and role overload were found to be related to different types of polychronic time use. Overall, this research demonstrates that the concept of polychronic time use contributes to our understanding of consumer behavior and raises questions worthy of future research. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.