Late? Actually they did it on purpose...

(Image source: BBC)

Have you ever seen people like this when you are rushing to catch a plane or a train: they are dragging their suitcases, running quickly in the terminal hall, their names are called out on the airport broadcast, and when they arrive at the counter, breathless and with flushed faces, they just catch the plane at the last minute.

You guess that these latecomers may have encountered unexpected situations, such as traffic jams, or forgot to bring their ID cards when going out, etc.

Of course, some people are late because of accidents, but for many more people, being late is habitual, or even intentional.

Have you ever been late for a flight? (Image credit: the Atlantic)

A person who is often late described his psychology: "I like the drama of running in the airport. I hate queuing and waiting. Every time I take a plane, I am the last one to board."

People who are often late always have an illusion: I can arrive on time.

British writer Grace Pacie wrote a book called "Late", in which she told her own example at TED: Every Saturday morning at 9:30, she went to dance class, and she thought, if I leave home at 9:15, I will be able to arrive on time.

But in reality, she would always leave home 5 or even 10 minutes late, and fantasize that she could make up for the time she was late by driving faster on the road.

But that didn't happen. She was late for every class.

I feel the same way. (Image source: TEDx TALK)

This phenomenon is called "The Planning Fallacy".

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman summarizes several characteristics of the planning fallacy:

First, people are always too optimistic when estimating their own tasks. Second, people do not learn from past estimation errors. Third, people are always too pessimistic when estimating other people's tasks.

But not everyone is optimistic when making plans.

On the other hand, there is another type of people, that is, people who are habitually early. They are pessimistic when making plans, always arrive at the appointment place more than half an hour in advance, and hate being late. This type of people will also cause pressure on others.

Ideal and reality. (Image source: Everydaypsych)

So, why are there two types of people with completely opposite behavior patterns?

Jonny Gerkin, a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina, Raleigh, believes that early arrivers and late arrivers actually have the same anxiety, but they manage it differently.

For example, people who are used to arriving early can reduce their anxiety by packing their luggage early, planning their trip carefully, and arriving at the airport two or three hours in advance.

People who are habitually late choose to avoid anxiety and delay packing their luggage until the last minute. Then, their adrenaline surges and they hurriedly pack their luggage and rush to the airport, turning their anxiety into excitement and motivation.

Give those who are always late a deadline, and they will burst out with amazing action. (Image source: memegenerator)

Jeffrey Conte, a psychologist at San Diego State University, roughly divides people into Type A and Type B.

Type A people, who are habitually early, are usually efficient, but a little too nervous, impatient, and have a low tolerance for other people's mistakes; while Type B people, who are habitually late, are more relaxed, less neurotic, more flexible in dealing with emergencies, and more adventurous.

Jeffrey Conte found that the difference between these two types of people may come from the different accuracy of their time estimation.

He did a study in which he asked Type A and Type B people to estimate the time of one minute respectively. He found that the average estimate of Type A people was 58 seconds, while that of Type B people was 77 seconds.

Obviously, Type A people are closer to the minute, and they are the more punctual ones.

People who are often late have messier desks and are more likely to lose things. (Image source: BBC)

Another 2016 study from the University of Washington proposed a similar theory.

Psychologist Emily Waldun proposed a term called time-based prospective memory (TBPM), which can also be understood as people's awareness of the flow of time.

The speed at which each person feels the passage of time varies depending on the situation and environment. A common example is that when you are busy, time seems to pass quickly, while when you are waiting, it seems to pass by for years.

The way and ability of different people to manage time will also affect their perception of the flow of time.

(Image source: DTA Innovation)

To test this, the research team at the University of Washington recruited 70 subjects and divided them into two groups according to age. One group had 36 people aged between 18 and 36, and the other group had 34 people aged between 60 and 87.

During the test, all subjects were asked to answer a series of questions and estimate how long they had spent on the task (the actual time was 11 minutes).

The entire test will be repeated three times. The first time will be in a quiet environment, the second time will play two background music to the subjects while answering questions, and the third time will play four music.

The results showed that in a quiet situation, young people had a more accurate perception of the test time, around 11 minutes, while older people generally underestimated the time, thinking only 9 minutes had passed.

However, background music has little effect on the performance of the elderly, but has a greater impact on young people.

Playing two songs will make young people significantly underestimate the time, thinking that only more than 8 minutes have passed, while playing four songs will make young people significantly overestimate the time, thinking that 12 minutes have passed.

This shows that different environments will affect people's perception of the flow of time, and older people are generally slower than young people.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some people are habitually late for pathological reasons. For example, patients with autism, depression, ADHD, etc., all have difficulty managing time in life, which is manifested by frequent lateness and no concept of time.

In society, people who are habitually late will suffer more misunderstandings. They are often labeled as lazy, reckless, selfish, and unreliable.

But surprisingly, people who are always late are not late for everything.

Grace Pacie found that although she was often late in her daily life, she was almost never late for important things, such as catching a flight, a job interview, or attending a funeral.

Perhaps in her subconscious mind, she has already ranked things in order of importance.

Some psychologists believe that habitual lateness is a correctable cognitive defect.

A psychological counselor gave an example of a client.

The client's mother was a very slow and procrastinating person. She would take a long time to take a bath and often sent him to school very late, causing him to be late for school. As a result, he was often late for school when he grew up.

After psychological counseling, he realized that he linked the behavior of being late to his feelings towards his mother, as if not being late would be a "betrayal" of his mother.

After realizing this, he stopped being late.

However, not everyone who is late can be corrected, or needs to be corrected.

If it has little impact on your life, then habitually being early or late is just a personality difference, not good or bad. People who are habitually late may not be punctual, but they tend to have more divergent thinking and are good at creative work. They can also perform well at work.

A diverse society is one that does not use a single standard to judge people with different personalities.

References:

[1]Inside the Mind of a Timebender – Why I'm Always Late | Grace Pacie | TEDxBedford

[2]Why some people are always late - BBC REEL

[3]There Are Two Types of Airport People - The Atlantic

[4]"Reasons Why Some People Are Always Late To Work | USC Online". 2016. USC MAPP Online.

[5]Clarke, Laura. 2022. "Why Some People Are Always Running Late". BBC.Com.

[6]"This Is Why Some People Are Always Late". 2022. Psychology Today.

[7]"These Are The Psychological Reasons Why Some People Are Always Late". 2022. Business Insider.

[8]We Know Why You're Always Late: What Researchers Have Learned About Tardiness and How You Can Arrive on Time More - The Wall Street Journal

[9]MacDonald, Fiona. 2018. "Scientists Have Found Out Why You're Chronically Late". Sciencealert.

[10]Waldum ER, McDaniel MA. Why are you late? Investigating the role of time management in time-based prospective memory. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2016 Aug;145(8):1049-61.

Source: Bringing Science Home