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

Hypothesis

Population density is positively correlated with tightness-looseness (p. 1101).

Note

Rural population density was significant at the .01 level.

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
CorrelationSupportedp<.10.59Two-tailed

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Population DensityIndependentPopulation
Tightness-looseness In NormsDependentNorms, Social Control, Sanctions, Social Offenses

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Harrington, Jesse R.Tight states will exhibit a higher incidence of natural disasters, greater environmental vulnerability, fewer natural resources, greater incidence of disease and higher mortality rates, higher population density and greater degrees of external threat (7992).
Harrington, Jesse R."There is wide variation in tightness-looseness that is distinct from other dimensions of culture, such as individualism-collectivism" (7990).
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and happiness will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and dysthymia depression will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and suicide rate will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness