The chapter explores the concept of tight and loose cultures and their impact on social dynamics. It discusses the differences in attitudes towards rules between social classes and the trade-off between norm-abiding behavior and unethical behavior. It also highlights the dynamics of culture and how it can shift between being tight or loose.
What ultimately drives human behaviour? A leading professor of psychology, Michele Gelfand, suggests that culture is one of the last uncharted frontiers. From her pioneering research into cultural and social norms she’s found an important distinction between tight and loose cultures, and their tendency to make or break rules. These social norms or informal rules of conduct determine whether we co-operate or come into conflict, at both the collective and individual levels.
This program was first broadcast in June 2019