A new survey shows that people are becoming more impatient–and they’re blaming technology.
Stationery supply company BIC had OnePoll conduct a study of 2,000 British adults and how they handle certain parts of life.
An overwhelming majority of those surveyed–75 percent–blame digital technology, including smartphones, on-demand TVs and computers, for their lack of patience.
In fact, smartphones were the number one reason why those surveyed said people these days are so impatient.
The survey found the average individual became impatient after waiting just 16 seconds for a webpage to load and the average person becomes frustrated if it takes longer than 22 seconds for the computer or TV streaming to start. The survey also shows people get impatient if it takes longer than 25 seconds for a traffic signal to change and if it takes longer than 20 seconds for ink to dry on a greeting card. Almost two-fifths of those surveyed–38 percent–say they lose their patience trying to stay focused with a speaker during a class.
Respondents said anything longer than 14 minutes when waiting for their food order to arrive tries their patience while anything longer than waiting seven minutes to get a drink was a pain. The survey also found that respondents expect to get their luggage within 13 minutes after landing at the airport.
The authors of the survey found it ironic that a lot of the respondents get impatient waiting for many items–but that doesn’t include groceries. People said they are fine with grocery orders coming within three days and waiting four days for the mail.
The study also shows 87 percent of those surveyed always have their phones at their side and 77 percent of them will reach for their phones when nothing is garnering their attention.
Reach Ed Dean at [email protected].
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