A CONCEPTUAL TYPOLOGY OF MULTITASKING BEHAVIOR HAVIOR AND POLYCHRONICITY PREFERENCES

摘要

Multitasking is a ubiquitous phenomenon in modern life. However, many gaps in theunderstanding of the rationale behind its adoption and its implications still remain, and activitycombinations that are considered to be multitasking in the literature offer a variety ofmanifestations. This paper discusses a conceptual framework for the systematic treatment andanalysis of multitasking behavior, and of the corresponding degree of preference for doingmultiple activities simultaneously, or polychronicity. A typology of multitasking is developedalong the dimensions of “share of time” and “share of resources” associated with the executionof multiple tasks. We discuss the importance of the time scale or granularity used for measuringmultitasking, the active vs. passive role of activities, and some approaches to measuringmultitasking and polychronicity in empirical studies. The paper provides an illustrative library ofexamples of the great diversity of multitasking situations in real life. Finally, the paper discussesmeasurement of polychronicity attitudes: polychronicity is conceptualized as a vector-valuedconstruct, which is time- and context-dependent, rather than as a single-valued orientation ofindividuals in everyday life.