Punctuality

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Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously-designated time.

Time, as it pertains to punctuality, can be organized into the following substrata that may or may not overlap:

Generally-designated: The individual's punctuality is based upon general societal norms (i.e., waking in the morning hours of the day, sleeping at night).

 The individual's punctuality is based on another entity's specific request (i.e., arriving at work no later than 8:00 AM, as specified by an employer).

Psychologically-designated: The individual's punctuality is based on desire (i.e., a personal rule to arrive at a movie 15 minutes before it starts).

Generally, the completion or fulfillment of obligations after the designated time has passed is known as tardiness.

Tardiness as an ambiguous issue should be analyzed within two schools of thought: objective and subjective punctuality.

[edit] Objective Punctuality

Objective punctuality can be defined by the following formula:

P = A - T

where P is punctuality, A is the actual moment of task or location fulfillment, and T is the designated time.

In objective punctuality, if P is greater than 0 at any given moment, the subject is considered tardy. If P is less than or equal to 0, the subject is considered punctual.

[edit] Subjective Punctuality

Subjective punctuality can be defined by the following formula:

P = A - T - R

where P is punctuality, A is the actual moment of task or location fulfillment, T is the designated time, and R is the tolerable amount of time beyond the designated time in which circumstantial rules of behavior characterize the individual as punctual. As with objective punctuality, if P is greater than 0 at any given moment, the subject is considered tardy.

[edit] Comparison

As can be seen above, the main difference between objective and subjective punctuality is the insertion of a third variable representing circumstantial conditions. These can range from social customs, extenuating circumstances and general/personal relationships and can vary between different social groups and cultures. Depending on the environment of social interactions, either the objective or subjective methods may be the standard against which punctuality is measured.