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

Science • Vol/Iss. 332 • American Association for the Advancement of Science • New York, Ny • Published In • Pages: 1100-1104 •
By 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, Fülöp, 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, Van de Vliert, Evert, Vohra, Naharika, Ward, Colleen, Yamaguchi, Susum

Abstract

This article explores differences between "tight" cultures ("have many strong norms and low tolerance of deviant behavior") and "loose" cultures ("have weak social norms and high tolerance of deviant behavior"). The tightness-looseness measure manifests in a myriad of macro and micro phenomena, from governance and religiosity to individual psychological processes. This study investigates these phenomena in modern nations rather than traditional societies. Potential ecological, historical, and socio-political predictors of tightness-looseness are also examined.

Note

This study includes dozens of correlations; the hypotheses in this report are only a small sample.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Other*Authors sampled respondents for their own survey and correlated responses with coded data from a variety of other sources (the U.N., etc.)

Hypotheses (5)

HypothesisSupported
Population density is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p. 1101).Supported
Food deprivation is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p. 1101).Supported
The total number of territorial threats is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p. 1101).Supported
Amount of life lost to communicable diseases is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p.1101).Supported
Natural disaster vulnerability is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p. 1101).Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: matthew.g.roth  Amelia Piazza