A brief, widely used measure of polychronic time use preference validated in the context of consumer time management and shopping behaviour. Kaufman, Lane & Lindquist (1991) extended Hall's (1959) anthropological concept of polychronic vs. monochronic time cultures to individual consumer behaviour, demonstrating that polychronic consumers shop differently, manage service encounters differently, and respond differently to time pressure and multi-channel retail environments. Polychronic consumers prefer simultaneous engagement with multiple shopping tasks, service interactions, and media channels; they show greater satisfaction with multifunctional services and products and adapt more positively to high-density shopping environments. Monochronic consumers (low PAI) prefer sequential task completion, dedicated service attention, and single-task focus — they are more sensitive to waiting times and service interruptions. The PAI has been widely applied in: retail environment research (store layout, service encounter design), media multitasking research, mobile commerce adoption, and time-stress consumer behaviour. Despite its brevity (4 items), the PAI consistently achieves acceptable reliability and strong construct validity against time orientation and temporal self-regulatory measures.
5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree); all 4 items averaged to form a single PAI composite score
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Two items are reverse-scored to capture monochronic preference; the composite score represents polychronic orientation (high = polychronic preference). The 4-item format limits reliability ceiling — for studies where polychronicity is a central (not background) construct, consider supplementing with the Bluedorn et al. (1999, Journal of Management Studies) Polychronic-Monochronic Tendency Scale (PMTS, 10 items), which provides greater reliability and content coverage. The PAI measures preference for multitasking, not capability — supplement with actual multitasking behaviour measures if behavioural validation is needed. Cross-cultural validity is generally supported but mean-level differences between individualist and collectivist cultures are expected (collectivist cultures tend toward higher polychronic means). In digital and mobile commerce research, the PAI predicts simultaneous multi-screen engagement, second-screen behaviour, and social media multitasking during television viewing.
Kaufman, C.F., Lane, P.M., & Lindquist, J.D. (1991). Exploring more than 24 hours a day: A preliminary investigation of polychronic time use. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 19(4), 392–401.
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