Wear a watch? You're reliable: Watch-wearers are more conscientious and punctual than those with bare wrists, research shows 

• Research shows watch-wearers are particularly reliable and more punctual
• Experiments tested the personality and watch-wearing habits of 90 people
• In a second experiment, 90 men and women were asked to arrive at the psychology department at a set time 

By Fiona Macrae Science Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 20:37 EST, 18 September 2015 | Updated: 02:25 EST, 19 September 2015

If you are fed up waiting for a friend who is always late, try buying them a watch.

Research shows watch-wearers are more reliable and more punctual and others.

This may simply be because conscientious sorts like to keep tabs on the time. Alternatively, wearing a watch may makes people more particular.

The theories have been put forward by Lincoln and York university researchers who quizzed hundreds of Britons about their personality and their watch-wearing habits.

Conscientious: Research shows watch-wearers are more reliable and more punctual and others 

The 50 per cent or so who said they regularly wore a watch described themselves as being more organised, careful, dependable and self-disciplined than the others.

In a second experiment, 90 men and women were asked to arrive at the psychology department at a set time.

All knew the way, and unbeknown to them, their punctuality was being monitored.

The watch-wearers arrived just over three minutes earlier, on average.

Lincoln University researcher David Ellis said: 'This might not sound like much but it could make the difference between making a positive or negative first impression at a job interview or missing an important event like a train.'

Dr Ellis, who always wears a watch, said conscientious sorts might like to wear one because they like to be very organised and plan ahead.

If this is the case, a glance at someone's wrist could have an insight into their personality.

However, it is also possible that wearing a watch makes someone more conscientious.

Celebrities such as David Beckham (left) and Kanye West (right) are often seen wearing fashionable watches

 While this might seem odd, previous research has shown that people are more diligent when given a white coat said to belong to a doctor than one said to be owned by a painter.

Rob Jenkins, the study's co-author and a non-watch wearer, said: 'As a fashion accessory or expression of social status, wearing a watch may provide an additional, albeit implicit cognitive impact on wearers, which makes them more conscientious and better planners.'

If this is the case, giving a habitually late friend a watch could help them be on time – as long as they wear it, of course.

The study, published in the journal PeerJ, also suggests that there is something special about using a watch to keep track of time.

Almost all of those studied owned a mobile phone, which would allow them to tell the time, yet half still wore a watch and it was these people who were more conscientious.