cross-cultural exam 3

tightness-loosness (TL)

The strength of norms and the toleration for deviation from those norms in a given human group. Not a psychology concept, but an anthropological idea.

Strength of norms

the unwritten rules and societal pressures one feels they must abide by in a given culture 

Tolerance for deviation

the severity of the punishment an individual anticipates experiencing for violating norms

tight cultures

characterized by greater strength of norms and low tolerance

loose cultures

characterized by lower strength of norms and high tolerance

Lun et al., 2012

• Experimentally manipulating attitudes toward norm violations

  • Ps randomly assigned to read fictitious newspaper articles that primed threat (e.g., overpopulation on campus, terrorist threat) vs. not 

  • Ps then rated whether various socially deviant behaviors (e.g., taking drugs, casual sex, littering) were justifiable 

  • Results: Ps primed to think about ecological threat: 

    • Rated deviant behavior as less justifiable 

    • More ethnocentric and anti-immigrant attitudes 

Harrington & Gelfand, 2014

• Tightness-looseness can also be used to explain cultural differences between different states in the USA

  • Used publicly available government data for all 50 states to generate a composite score of TL for each state 

    • Ex: Corporal punishment in school, state executions 

      • Severity of laws on drugs (alcohol, marijuana) 

      • Number of foreign-born and non-religious residents 

implicit leadership theory

people’s schemas of an effective leader are shaped by cultural context

participative leadership

leaders actively involve others in decision-making processes

autonomous leadership

leaders who are more confident in their own ideas and abilities as opposed to others’

charismatic leadership

uses unorthodox means to achieve goals; motivates followers via change and future-oriented behaviors

Aktas et al., 2016

• examined 29 different countries using pre-existing data to see whether TL was associated with preferences for various leadership styles

• Results: Tighter countries favored autonomous leadership, whereas looser countries favored charismatic and participative leadership

  • Implications for understanding cultural differences in responses to crises (i.e., COVID-19) 

    • Singapore (tight) had one of the most efficient responses to COVID-19 (i.e., one of the lowest fatality rates, 96% vaccination rate)  

    • Brazil and the USA (loose) exhibited more debate over public health directives (i.e., making social distancing) 

Lichtman, 1996, 2016

• Historians cite charisma as a major contributing factor to the election of many U.S. presidents over the last 45 years

  • I.e., Ronald Regan (was a very charismatic, pretty famous actor) , Trump (ugh), Obama

Toh & Leonardelli, 2012

• Cultural TL explains cultural differences in women in leadership roles

• Analyzed data on women in leadership positions (e.g., legislators, senior officials) across 32 countries and correlated their findings with TL

  • Results: Negative correlation between tightness and percentage of women in leadership roles

Harrington & Gelfand, 2014

replicated Toh & Leonardelli’s study just in the US

Stamkou et al., 2019

• Cultural TL and IND-COL can explain cultural differences in responses to norm violations

• Examined the paradox that norm violators are often seen as both powerful and morally offensive 

• Ps from 19 different countries evaluated a vignette of a person who either adhered to or violated workplace norms and then rated them on: 

  • Power perception 

  • Moral outrage 

  • Leader support 

• Results:

  • COL and tight cultures→norm violaters elicited a lot of moral outrage, and were seen as less powerful; norm adherers were rated as having great potential as leaders 

  • IND and loose cultures→norm violaters elicited some moral outrage, but were seen as more powerful; norm adherers rated less positively as a leader compared to COL/tight

• Norm violators elicit moral outrage in both IND-COL cultures, but norm violators are viewed as powerful in IND cultures

Kim & Markus, 1999

• Exclaimed whether cultural values associated with IND-COL could explain cultural differences in motivation to be unique (vs. conform) 

• Study 3: Pen selection 

  • American and East Asian Ps approached the airport and completed a filler questionnaire; afterward asked to pick a pen as a “gift” from a group of five pens 

• Results: American Ps were more likely to pick the “unique” options 

• Study 4: Conducted content analysis of print ads from the USA and South Korea

  • Results: American ads→uniqueness, Korean ads→confomroty 

    • Both studies provide more “naturalistic” evidence for these cultural differences of motivation to stand out vs. be similar

wisdom

tends to revolve around knowledge and judgement

Grossman et al., 2016

• Examining cultural lay theories on the development of wisdom (Grossman et al., 2016)

  • Past research has demonstrated cultural differences in the perceived malleability of personality 

    • Western perspective→fxed/entitative mindset 

    • Non-Western perspective→growth/incremental mindset 

  • Ps from the USA, Canada, and Russia reported the extent to which they believed wisdom was malleable

  • Results: USA/Canada held more fixed beliefs, Russia/China held more malleable beliefs 

    • Somewhat paradoxical that a culture that says wisdom comes from more lived experience also views wisdom as fixed 

Westerate et al., 2016

components of wisdom: intelligent and rational, prosocial and loving, pragmatic and strategic

Gluck and Bluck 2011

components of wisdom: cognitive component, prosocial component

Yang 2001

components of wisdom: cognitive component, prosocial component, reflective component

Grossman et al., 2012

• Cultural differences in wisdom as a function of age

• Japanese and American Ps (spanning young adults to older adults) evaluated an interpersonal conflict and were asked to open-endedly describe: 

  • What do you think will happen next? 

  • Why do you think things will play out that way? 

  • What do you think should be done? 

• Responses were then coded on the four dimensions of wisdom 

• Results: For Americans, wisdom scores were higher as age increased, but no differences between older and younger Japanese adults

  • The belief that wisdom increases with age is unique to IND cultures 

Shen et al., 2011

• Wisdom influences the meaning of prosoociality across cultures

  • Examined cultural differences in response to gift-giving 

  • Predicted that East Asian Ps are more likely to reject a gift from an acquaintance to avoid feelings 

  • Method: Jong ong Chinese and Canadian Ps imagined they were offered a gift (free soup at a market, free coffee from a friend) 

  • DVs: Likelihood of accepting gift, indebtedness 

  Results: Hong Kong Chinese Ps are less likely to accept a gift than Canadian Ps, and this is explained by greater perceptions of indebtedness

objective resources

direct signals of social class (wealth, education)

subjective social-class rank

how one perceives their own social class relative to others

Snibbe & Markus, 2005

• Educational attainment predicts music preferences

  • SES creates distinct material and symbolic environments regarding choice 

    • High SES: greater wealth, occupational autonomy, geographic mobility→high sense of choice (i.e., valuing self-expression, uniqueness) 

    • Low SES: fewer resources, more constrained environments, greater exposure to uncontrollable circumstances→low sense of choice (i.e., valuing personal integrity, adapting to constraints) 

  • Predicted these social class differences would be reflected in different group-level music preferences (high SES→rock, low SES→country) 

    • Ex: A Bar Song (Tipsy) 

      • “This 9-to-5 ain’t working, why the hell do I work so hard”

      • “I’ve been Boozey since I left, I ain’t changin’ for a check”

    • Study 1: used data from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) to examine the relationship between music preferences and education 

    • Results: lower education Ps favored country music, higher education Ps favored rock music 

  • Study 2: coded lyrics of popular country and rock songs for themes of agency 

    • Examples of Coding Categories: 

  • Results: rock songs are more likely to feature lyrical themes of agency (e.g., self-expansion, uniqueness) 

    • Objective resources signaling social class indirectly influence attitudes/preferences

Kraus & Keltner, 2009

• Social class is signaled via the use of nonverbals

  • Nonverbal behaviors can reflect social (dis)engagement 

    • Social disengagement→self-grooming, doodling

    • Social engagement→head nods, laughter 

  • Predicted that higher SES Ps are more likely to exhibit signs of social disengagement, and lower SES Ps are more likely to exhibit signs of social engagement 

    • Argued that these behaviors reflect differences in reliance on social resources 

  • Ps reported their SES (e.g., family income, parental education) and then engaged in a recorded 5-minute “get acquainted” interaction with a stranger 

    • Videos coded for (dis)engagement behaviors 

  • Results: High SES Ps→more disengagement behaviors, Low SES Ps→more engagement behvaiors  

  • Also examined thin-slicing→making quick judgements about a person based on limited information 

    • A separate group of Ps viewed 60-second clips of the first sample’s interactions and rated the targets’ SES 

  • Results: Ps were able to accurately guess targets’ SES based on the type of nonverbals they used 

    • Social class is signaled via subtle nonverbals that are detectable by others 

subjective social-class rank

how one perceives their own social class relative to others

MacArthur

ladder measure (1-10)

Piff et al., 2010

• Perceived social class influences prosocial behavior

  • Argued that because lower SES people are more attentive to context, they are more attuned to others’ needs 

  • Ps reported objective (education) and subjective SES (ladder measure); then estimated what percentage of a person’s income should be allocated to different categories (e.g., food, bills, recreation, charity) 

    • DV: How much money was allocated to charity 

  • Results: Lower SES Ps allocated more money to charity than did high SES Ps 

Francioli et al., 2023

• Intergenerational tensions between Boomers and Millennials

  • Proposed that the conflict between Boomers and Millennials can be explained by perceptions of different types of threats 

    • Boomers are concerned with symbolic threats (e.g., changing cultural values and norms) 

    • Millennials are concerned with realistic threats (e.g., economic opportunity, resources) 

  • Study 1: Millennial and Boomer Ps reported attitudes and perceived threat toward various age generations 

  • Results: Boomers like Millennials the least and find them more threatening than other generations (and vice versa for Millennials regarding Boomers)

  • Study 2: Examined whether the mutual animosity was associated with symbolic threat (Boomers) or realistic threat (Millennials) 

    • Symbolic threat item→ “Millennials have a different moral code.” 

    • Realistic threat item→ ”Boomers are preventing Millennials from achieving financial security.”

  • Results: Animosity toward the opposing generation can be explained via a distinct type of threat 

    • International tension can be attributed to feeling like other generations “don’t understand” their respective way of life