Introduction

Rulemakers Rule Breakers, How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our Worlds by Michelle Gell-Fand is out now. People in tight cultures show greater self-control, conscientiousness, less littering, lower crime, more synchrony,. Stronger prejudice against outsiders, lower immigration, lower ethnic diversity, and more restrictions on public speech. Loose cultures are typically much more open, tolerant, creative, and overweight. So this brings me to today's fundamental question. Why do some societies strictly police norms, while others, turn a blind eye? why demands for conformity so much higher in the US SAM?