The Influence of Monochronic/Polychronic Time Orientation on Temporal Demand and Subjective Mental Workload

The sensitivity of mental workload measures is influenced by cultural and individual factors. One individual factor that is hypothesized to influence mental workload is time orientation. The aim of this study is to observe the influence of time orientation on temporal demand and subjective mental workload. One hundred and two participants representing three different time orientations, namely monochronic, neutral, and polychronic orientations, assessed using the Modified Polychronic Attitude Index 3 (MPAI(3)), voluntarily participated in this study. Participants were instructed to complete a search and count task in four different conditions with varying degrees of difficulty. Mental workload was assessed using subjective (NASA-TLX) and objective (heart rate variability, or HRV) methods and analyzed for each condition. The results show that, with comparable performance and comparable HRV, monochronic participants show higher sensitivity than neutral or polychronic participants in subjective mental workload, particularly the temporal demand dimension. The implications are discussed.