Differences between tight and loose cultures: a 33-nation study

• Author(s): Gelfand, Michele J. ; Raver, Jana L. ; Nishii, Lisa ; Leslie, Lisa M. ; Lun, Janetta ; Lim, Beng Chong ; Duan, Lili ; Almaliach, Assaf ; Ang, Soon ; Arnadottir, Jakobina ; Aycan, Zeynep ; Boehnke, Klaus ; Boski, Pawel ; Cabecinhas, Rosa ; Chan, Darius ; Chhokar, Jagdeep ; D’Amato, Alessia ; Ferrer, Montse ; Fischlmayr, Iris C. ; Fischer, Ronald ; Fulop, Marta ; Georgas, James ; Kashima, Emiko S. ; Kashima, Yoshishima ; Kim, Kibum ; Lempereur, Alain ; Marquez, Patricia ; Othman, Rozhan ; Overlaet, Bert ; Panagiotopoulou, Penny ; Peltzer, Karl ; Perez-Florizno, Lorena R. ; Ponomarenko, Larisa ; Realo, Anu ; Schei, Vidar ; Schmitt, Manfred ; Smith, Peter B. ; Soomro, Nazar ; Szabo, Erna ; Taveesin, Nalinee ; Toyama, Midori ; Vliert, Evert van de ; Vohra, Naharika ; Ward, Colleen ; Yamaguchi, Susumu
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/16159
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Cultural diversity; Social norms; Tightness-looseness
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

With data from 33 nations, we illustrate the differences between cultures that are tight (have many strong norms and a low tolerance of deviant behavior) versus loose (have weak social norms and a high tolerance of deviant behavior). Tightness-looseness is part of a complex, loosely integrated multilevel system that comprises distal ecological and historical threats (e.g., high population density, resource scarcity, a history of territorial conflict, and disease and environmental threats), broad versus narrow socialization in societal institutions (e.g., autocracy, media regulations), the strength of everyday recurring situations, and micro-level psychological affordances (e.g., prevention self-guides, high regulatory strength, need for structure). This research advances knowledge that can foster cross-cultural understanding in a world of increasing global interdependence and has implications for modeling cultural change.