10- Tight and Loose Cultures Flashcards
How are tight societies characterised?
Strong social norms + low tolerance of deviant behaviour
How are loose societies characterised?
Weak norms + high tolerance of deviant behaviour
What does a norm system specify?
What is acceptable and what isn’t in a society or group
What kind of rules are social norms?
Informal rules
What do social norms govern?
People’s behaviour in groups and societies
What did Pelto observe?
Differences in different cultures following norms- tight vs loose
What is tightness vs looseness independent of?
Other cultural dimensions
Who investigated norms between tight and loose cultures?
Gelfand et al, 2011
What did Gelfand et al measure?
Cultural tightness + looseness
What did Gelfand et al find?
People generally agree about tightness or looseness of their culture
Which countries have a tighter structure?
Ones with greater historical and ecological hardships
What are people in tight nations less likely to do?
Participate in collective action
Which cultures were able to contain the spread of COVID-19 more efficiently and effectively?
Tighter cultures
Who were Liu et al’s participants?
Facebook users from different US states
What were the methods used in Liu et al’s study?
Comparison of Facebook users from different US states in terms of emotional expression on social media
What were participants from tight US states more likely to do?
Express positive vs negative emotions of Facebook especially with a dense network
What may individuals from tight cultures use more and why?
More impression management strategies to maintain a positive image in online communities
What was the aim of Jamshed et al’s study?
To examine sexual double standards and violence against women in the US and Pakistan
What are sexual double standards?
Patterns of gendered expectations where men are expected to be sexually active, assertive and dominant in terms of sexual activity whereas women are expected to be submissive, shy and passive
What theoretical model did Jamshed et al use?
Social dominance theory
What does social dominance theory believe?
Human societies tend to be organised as group-based social hierarchies
What did Jamshed et al find?
Social dominance orientation was positively associated with endorsing sexual double standards across both cultures, regardless of tightness/looseness
How are Pakistan and US cultures similar?
Both are patriarchal societies
What was Stamkou et al’s rationale?
Norm violations seen as being considered a threat to social order in tight cultures
What was Stamkou et al’s main hypothesis?
Collectivism and tightness will be positively associated with moral outrage in response to moral violation
What was shown by those with higher collectivism levels (Stamkou et al)?
People showed higher moral outrage in response to norm violations
How was the norm violator perceived when collectivism levels were higher?
Less powerful
What was shown by those with lower collectivism levels (Stamkou et al)?
Lower moral outrage in response to norm violations
How was the norm violator perceived when collectivism levels were lower?
More powerful
What did respondents in tighter cultures express (Stamkou et al)?
A stronger preference for norm followers as leaders
Hofstede’s 6 dimensions of culture
- Power distance
- Individualism- collectivism
- Masculinity- femininity
- Uncertainty- avoidance
- Long- short term orientation
- Indulgence- restraint
What is the power distance dimension?
Extent that less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is equally distributed
What is the individualism- collectivism dimension?
How individuals integrate into primary groups
What is the masculinity- femininity dimension?
Division of gender roles between women and men
What is the uncertainty- avoidance dimension?
Level of stress experienced in a society in the face of an unknown future (tolerance for ambiguity)
What is the long- short term orientation dimension?
Choice for focus for people’s efforts: future, or present and past
What is the indulgence-restraint dimension?
Gratification vs control of basic human desires related to enjoying life
