The Index of Cultural Tightness and Looseness Among 68 Countries

Abstract

If a culture is characterized by pervasive norms and sanctioning of deviance from norms, it is a tight culture. In a tight culture, people's values, norms, and behavior are similar to each other. Thus, cultural tightness can be conceptualized as homogeneity in values, norms, and behaviors. As such, the cultural tightness and looseness (CTL) can be captured by SD. In the present study, a theoretical framework to study CTL was suggested. Three different indices of CTL in 68 societies were developed based on cultural-level SDs: a domain-specific index, a domain-general index, and a combination index. The combination CTL index showed the greatest validity compared with the domain-specific index, domain-general index, and another measure based on aggregation of individual-level perceptions. With the CTL index at hand, further theoretical predictions pertaining to the CTL can be tested. In general, wider use of SD was advocated.