The Strength of Social Norms Across Human Groups
Abstract
Social norms are a defining feature of human psychology, yet our understanding of them is still underdeveloped. In this article, we present our own cross-cultural research program on tightness-looseness (TL)—which draws on field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods—to illustrate how going beyond Western borders is critical for understanding social norms’ functions and their multilevel consequences. Cross-cultural research enables us to account for the universal features of norm psychology but also explains the great cultural diversity we see in social norms around the globe.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Cultures tighten in the face of ecological threat.
“According to past research, cultures tighten in the face of ecological threat [24–26].”
From Ecological and cultural factors underlying the global distribution of prejudice (2019) · cites this paper as [25]
TL theory holds that, during times of threat, groups and individuals gravitate towards cultural tightness because tighter norms can better maintain societal order, stability, and coordination.
“TL theory holds that, during times of threat, groups and individuals gravitate towards cultural tightness because tighter norms can better maintain societal order, stability, and coordination [24–26].”
From Ecological and cultural factors underlying the global distribution of prejudice (2019) · cites this paper as [25]
Cites
The social construction of reality : a treatise in the sociology of knowledge
Simpson, G., Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2091739 · Cited by 16,462 · see citing works
Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research
Krueger, R. F., & Johnson, W. (2008) · Cited by 7,884 · see citing works
Culture and the Evolutionary Process
Griesemer, J. R., Boyd, R. T., & Richerson, P. J. (1986) · Ornithological Applications · doi:10.2307/1367778 · Cited by 7,133 · see citing works
Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015 · Cited by 5,965 · see citing works
Behavioral Study of obedience.
Milgram, S. (1963) · The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0040525 · Cited by 4,918 · see citing works
Madison, P., & Mischel, W. (1968) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421067 · Cited by 4,395 · see citing works
Differences Between Tight and Loose Cultures: A 33-Nation Study
Gelfand, M. J., Raver, J. L., Nishii, L., Leslie, L. M., Lun, J., Lim, B. C., Duan, L., Almaliach, A., Ang, S., Arnadottir, J., et al. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1197754 · Cited by 3,252 · see citing works
Self-citationEffects of Group Pressure Upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments
Asch, S. E. (1961) · Documents of Gestalt Psychology · doi:10.1525/9780520313514-017 · Cited by 2,644 · see citing works
(1998) · Cited by 2,641 · see citing works
(2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-6626 · Cited by 2,234 · see citing works
The Analysis of Subjective Culture.
Mazur, A., Triandis, H. C., Vasiliou, V., Vassiliou, G. A., Tanaka, Y., & Shanmugam, A. V. (1974) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2061987 · Cited by 1,769 · see citing works
Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment
Cialdini, R. B. (2003) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-8721.01242 · Cited by 1,553 · see citing works
Social Learning Theory of Aggression
Bandura, A. (1978) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1978.tb01621.x · Cited by 1,487 · see citing works
The Psychology of Social Norms.
Hankins, F. H., & Sherif, M. (1937) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2084385 · Cited by 1,470 · see citing works
Personality at the crossroads : current issues in interactional psychology
Magnusson, D., & Endler, N. S. (1977) · Lawrence Erlbaum Associates eBooks · Cited by 1,460 · see citing works
Besanceney, P. H., Guetzkow, H. S., & White, W. R. (1952) · The American Catholic Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/3707197 · Cited by 1,450 · see citing works
The Psychology of Social Norms
Lemmon, M. L., & Sherif, M. (1938) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1416439 · Cited by 1,296 · see citing works
Class and Conformity: A Study in Values.
Powers, M. G., & Kohn, M. L. (1970) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2093420 · Cited by 1,116 · see citing works
On the nature and importance of cultural tightness-looseness.
Gelfand, M. J., Nishii, L. H., & Raver, J. L. (2006) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1225 · Cited by 1,111 · see citing works
Self-citationPatterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States.
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.2.279 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
Tightness–looseness across the 50 united states
Harrington, J. R., & Gelfand, M. J. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1317937111 · Cited by 708 · see citing works
Self-citationCurrent Studies in Social Psychology.
Caro, F. G., Steiner, I. D., & Fishbein, M. (1966) · Journal of Health and Human Behavior · doi:10.2307/2948961 · Cited by 643 · see citing works
Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x · Cited by 569 · see citing works
The Changing Psychology of Culture From 1800 Through 2000
Greenfield, P. M. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613479387 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
The differences between “tight” and “loose” societies
Pelto, P. J. (1968) · Society · doi:10.1007/bf03180447 · Cited by 385 · see citing works
Relation of Child Training to Subsistence Economy1
Barry, H., Child, I. L., & Bacon, M. K. (1959) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00080 · Cited by 378 · see citing works
The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity
Bellezza, S., Gino, F., & Keinan, A. (2014) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/674870 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Broad and Narrow Socialization: The Family in the Context of a Cultural Theory
Arnett, J. J. (1995) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.2307/353917 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
Social Structure, Infectious Diseases, Disasters, Secularism, and Cultural Change in America
Grossmann, I., & Varnum, M. E. W. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797614563765 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
The perpetuation of an arbitrary tradition through several generations of a laboratory microculture.
Jacobs, R. C., & Campbell, D. T. (1961) · The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0044182 · Cited by 264 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…& Luckmann, 1966; Sherif, 1936), where norms were thought to arise from cultural idiosyncrasies, with those that took a functionalist perspective ( Jacobs & Campbell, 1961; Schaller & Latané, 1996), where norms were thought to emerge on the basis of their ability to increase survival-related…”
BackgroundMu, Y., Kitayama, S., Han, S., & Gelfand, M. J. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1509839112 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Self-citationFrink, D. D., & Klimoski, R. J. (2004) · Human Resource Management Review · doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2004.02.001 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Societal threat and cultural variation in the strength of social norms: An evolutionary basis
Roos, P., Gelfand, M., Nau, D., & Lun, J. (2015) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.01.003 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Self-citationAmerican Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
Woodard, C. (2011) · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Behavioral appropriateness and situational constraint as dimensions of social behavior.
Price, R., & Bouffard, D. L. (1974) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0037037 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Independence and conformity in subsistence-level societies.
Berry, J. W. (1967) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0025231 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
The Evolutionary Taxonomy of Culture
Lomax, A. E., & Berkowitz, N. (1972) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.177.4045.228 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
The social dynamics of breaking the rules: antecedents and consequences of norm-violating behavior
Kleef, G. A. V., Wanders, F., Stamkou, E., & Homan, A. C. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.03.013 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Breaking the Rules to Rise to Power
Kleef, G. A. V., Homan, A. C., Finkenauer, C., Gündemir, S., & Stamkou, E. (2011) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550611398416 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
The Evolutionary Basis of Honor Cultures
Nowak, A. K., Gelfand, M. J., Borkowski, W., Cohen, D., & Hernandez, I. A. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797615602860 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Self-citationJackson, J. C., Rand, D. G., Lewis, K., Norton, M. I., & Gray, K. J. (2017) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550617691100 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Self-citationA Cultural Ecology of Social Behavior
Berry, J. W. (1979) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60262-2 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Mrazek, A. J., Chiao, J. Y., Blizinsky, K. D., Lun, J., & Gelfand, M. J. (2013) · Culture and Brain · doi:10.1007/s40167-013-0009-x · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Self-citationThe role of gamma interbrain synchrony in social coordination when humans face territorial threats
Mu, Y., Han, S., & Gelfand, M. J. (2017) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsx093 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Self-citationCulture and National Well-Being: Should Societies Emphasize Freedom or Constraint?
Harrington, J. R., Boski, P., & Gelfand, M. J. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127173 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-citationTightness–looseness: A new framework to understand consumer behavior
Li, R., Gordon, S., & Gelfand, M. J. (2017) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2017.04.001 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-citationA Tight Spot: How Personality Moderates the Impact of Social Norms on Sojourner Adaptation
Geeraert, N., Li, R., Ward, C. A., Gelfand, M. J., & Demes, K. A. (2019) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797618815488 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationDynamic Social Impact and the Evolution of Social Representations: A Natural History of Stereotypes
Schaller, M., & Latané, B. (1996) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1996.tb01506.x · Cited by 44 · see citing works
PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION IN CROSS‐CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Witkin, H. A., & Berry, J. W. (1975) · ETS Research Bulletin Series · doi:10.1002/j.2333-8504.1975.tb01043.x · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Method, Theory, and Multi-Agent Artificial Intelligence
Lane, J. E. (2014) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.v1i2.161 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Structural Tightness and Social Conformity
Boldt, E. D., & Roberts, L. W. (1979) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022022179102008 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Incipient Social Groups: An Analysis via In-Vivo Behavioral Tracking
Halberstadt, J. B., Jackson, J. C., Bilkey, D. K., Jong, J., Whitehouse, H., McNaughton, C., & Zollmann, S. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149880 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationEcological priming: Convergent evidence for the link between ecology and psychological processes
Gelfand, M. J., & Lun, J. (2013) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x13000113 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationOn the evolution of tightness-looseness in cultural ecosystems
Jackson, J. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (2016) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2015.1132252 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationTrump culture: threat, fear and the tightening of the American mind
Gelfand, M. J., & Jackson, J. C. (2016) · doi:10.64628/aai.je9y4vhr3 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationJackson, J. C., Bilkey, D. K., Jong, J., Rossignac‐Milon, M., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2017) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550617709112 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationWorlds Unto Themselves: Tightness-Looseness and Social Class
Harrington, J. R. (2017) · University Libraries (University of Maryland) · doi:10.13016/m22n4zj22 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationNowak, A. K., Gelfand, M. J., Borkowski, W., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190269098.003.0010 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 59 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response
Bavel, J. J. V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., et al. (2020) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z · Cited by 4,964 · see citing works
Self-citationMasculine defaults: Identifying and mitigating hidden cultural biases.
Cheryan, S., & Markus, H. R. (2020) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000209 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies
Eriksson, K., Strimling, P., Gelfand, M. J., Wu, J., Abernathy, J., Akotia, C. S., Aldashev, A., Andersson, P., Andrighetto, G., Anum, A., et al. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21602-9 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Self-citationCultural Psychology: Beyond East and West
Kitayama, S., & Salvador, C. E. (2023) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-021723-063333 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Norm Dynamics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Social Norm Emergence, Persistence, and Change
Gelfand, M. J., Gavrilets, S., & Nunn, N. (2023) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-013319 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Self-citationRevenge: a multilevel review and synthesis
Jackson, J. C., Choi, V. K., & Gelfand, M. J. (2019) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103305 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Self-citationRETRACTED: Global impacts of pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic: Focus on socio-economic consequences
Mishra, N. T. P., Das, S. S., Yadav, S., Khan, W., Afzal, M. F., AlArifi, A. S., Kenawy, E.-R., Ansari, M. T., Hasnain, M. S., & Nayak, A. K. (2020) · Sensors International · doi:10.1016/j.sintl.2020.100042 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
RetractedHensel, L., Witte, M., Caria, S. A., Fetzer, T., Fiorin, S., Götz, F. M., Gomez, M., Haushofer, J., Ivchenko, A., Kraft‐Todd, G., et al. (2021) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2021.11.015 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Cultures of Genius at Work: Organizational Mindsets Predict Cultural Norms, Trust, and Commitment
Canning, E. A., Murphy, M. C., Emerson, K. T. U., Chatman, J. A., Dweck, C. S., & Kray, L. J. (2019) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167219872473 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Engineering social change using social norms: lessons from the study of collective action
Prentice, D. A., & Paluck, E. L. (2020) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.06.012 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Why do people follow social norms?
Gross, J., & Vostroknutov, A. (2021) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.016 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Ecological and cultural factors underlying the global distribution of prejudice
Jackson, J. C., van Egmond, M., Choi, V. K., Ember, C. R., Halberstadt, J., Balanovic, J., Basker, I. N., Boehnke, K., Buki, N., Fischer, R., et al. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221953 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Self-citationAlgorithm-mediated social learning in online social networks
Brady, W. J., Jackson, J. C., Lindström, B., & Crockett, M. J. (2023) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.06.008 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Emergence of Contextual Social Psychology
Pettigrew, T. F. (2018) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167218756033 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
A global analysis of cultural tightness in non-industrial societies
Jackson, J. C., Gelfand, M. J., & Ember, C. R. (2020) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1036 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Self-citationTravaglino, G. A., & Moon, C. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565845 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
The cultural evolutionary trade-off of ritualistic synchrony
Gelfand, M. J., Caluori, N., Jackson, J. C., & Taylor, M. K. (2020) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0432 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Self-citationLatitudinal Psychology: An Ecological Perspective on Creativity, Aggression, Happiness, and Beyond
Van de Vliert, E., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2019) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691619858067 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
The Diversity Gap: When Diversity Matters for Knowledge
Sulik, J., Bahrami, B., & Deroy, O. (2022) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916211006070 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Using Social and Behavioural Science to Support COVID-19 Pandemic ResponsePreprint
Bavel, J. J. V., D, K. B. A., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A. K., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., et al. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4178356 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Self-citationGupta, T., & Hagtvedt, H. (2021) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucab006 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Vu, L., Soraperra, I., Leib, M., van der Weele, J. J., & Shalvi, S. (2023) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000398 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Whiten, A. (2019) · Advances in the study of behavior · doi:10.1016/bs.asb.2018.12.003 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Elster, A., & Gelfand, M. J. (2020) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12584 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationChan, H., Udall, A. M., & Tam, K. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101750 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
The Emperor has no clothes: A critique of Safety-II
Cooper, M. D. (2020) · Safety Science · doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105047 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Minority influence in climate change mitigation
Bolderdijk, J. W., & Jans, L. (2021) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.02.005 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Cross‐cultural differences in eyewitness memory reports
Anakwah, N., Horselenberg, R., Hope, L., Amankwah‐Poku, M., & Koppen, P. J. V. (2020) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.3637 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Newson, M., Buhrmester, M. D., Xygalatas, D., & Whitehouse, H. (2020) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.38413 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Worldwide divergence of values
Jackson, J. C., & Medvedev, D. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46581-5 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationFeeling and thought in collective action on social issues: Toward a systems perspective
Zeineddine, F. B., & Leach, C. W. (2021) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12622 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
How we learn social norms: a three-stage model for social norm learning
Zhang, W., Liu, Y., Dong, Y., He, W., Yao, S., Xu, Z., & Mu, Y. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1153809 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Kim, Y. J., & Toh, S. M. (2018) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2016.1322 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“Neijuan” in China: The psychological concept and its characteristic dimensions
ZHANG, W., Chao, P. A. N., Yao, S., Jiajia, Z. H. U., Dong, L. I. N. G., Hanchun, Y. A. N. G., Jingsha, X. U., & Mu, Y. (2023) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2024.00107 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Human-algorithm interactions help explain the spread of misinformation
McLoughlin, K. L., & Brady, W. J. (2023) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101770 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Culture, Norms, and the Assessment of Communication Contexts: Multidisciplinary Perspectives
Lefringhausen, K., Spencer‐Oatey, H., & Debray, C. (2019) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022022119889162 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The interplay of social identity and norm psychology in the evolution of human groups
Bar-On, K. K., & Lamm, E. (2023) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0412 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Culture Creation and Change: Making Sense of the Past to Inform Future Research Agendas
Kim, Y. J., Toh, S. M., & Baik, S. (2022) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/01492063221081031 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Majority and popularity effects on norm formation in adolescence
Pinho, A. D. S., Molleman, L., Braams, B. R., & van den Bos, W. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92482-8 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Huis, M. A., Hansen, N., Lensink, R., & Otten, S. (2019) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12348 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Universal and culture-specific patterns of tightness-looseness across the 31 Chinese provinces
Gelfand, M. J. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1902401116 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationCultural influences on the effects of social norm appeals
Liu, R. W., & Lapinski, M. K. (2024) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2023.0036 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Dog whistle mascots: Native American mascots as normative expressions of prejudice
Kraus, M. W., Brown, X., & Swoboda, H. (2019) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2019.04.008 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Prosocial religions as folk-technologies of mutual policing.
Fitouchi, L., Singh, M., André, J., & Baumard, N. (2025) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000531 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
The Adoption of Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China and Israel
Liu, X.-J., & Mesch, G. S. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17197170 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Emotion depends on context, culture and their interaction: evidence from effective connectivity
Pugh, Z. H., Choo, S., Leshin, J. C., Lindquist, K. A., & Nam, C. S. (2021) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsab092 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Göller, M., Harteis, C., Gijbels, D., & Donche, V. (2020) · Journal of Engineering Education · doi:10.1002/jee.20308 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Yousaf, M., Ahmad, M., Ji, D., Huang, D., & Raza, S. H. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-21179-3 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
No family left behind: Flexibility i-deals for employees with stigmatized family identities
Anand, S., & Mitra, A. (2021) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726721999708 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Threatened humanity in a tight world: Cultural tightness results in self-objectification
Wang, X., Chen, H., Shi, J., & Chen, Z. (2022) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302221097842 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Baimel, A., Apicella, C. L., Atkinson, Q. D., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E. E. A., Handley, C., Henrich, J., Klocová, E. K., Lang, M., LESOGOROL, C. K., et al. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006287 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Bicultural Identity Integration
Benet‐Martínez, V., Lee, F., & Cheng, C. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190079741.003.0006 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Deckert, C., & Schomaker, R. (2022) · Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship · doi:10.1186/s13731-022-00219-2 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
(2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108695374 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
How much cultural variation around the globe is explained by ecology?
Wormley, A. S., Kwon, J. Y., Barlev, M., & Varnum, M. E. W. (2023) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2023.0485 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Culture in Mind – An Enactivist Account
Hutto, D. D., Gallagher, S., Ilundáin‐Agurruza, J., & Hipólito, I. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108695374.009 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Fischer, R. D., & Ferreira, M. C. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190085384.013.2 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Cognitive Blame Is Socially Shaped
Malle, B. F., Guglielmo, S., Voiklis, J., & Monroe, A. E. (2022) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09637214211068845 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Liu, S., Zhu, J., Liu, Y., Dillion, D., Jackson, J. C., & Mu, Y. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13744-2 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationImpact of cultural tightness on consumers' preference for anthropomorphic AI services
Sui, J., Shen, H., & Zhou, X. (2024) · Psychology and Marketing · doi:10.1002/mar.22086 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Tipping Points for Norm Change in Human Cultures
De, S., Nau, D. S., Pan, X., & Gelfand, M. J. (2018) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93372-6_7 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationCorruption and Social Norms: A New Arrow in the Quiver
Kubbe, I., Camargo, C. B., & Scharbatke-Church, C. (2024) · Annual Review of Political Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-095535 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Uzuegbunam, I. S.-P., Pathak, S. M., Taylor‐Bianco, A., & Ofem, B. (2021) · Journal of Business Venturing · doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106127 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Culture and credibility: the assessment of asylum seekers’ statements
de Bruïne, G., Vredeveldt, A., & Koppen, P. J. V. (2023) · Psychology Crime and Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2023.2279328 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Kleef, G. A. V. (2023) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12745 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Creativity and Leadership in the Creative Industry: A Study From the Perspective of Social Norms
Du, X., Zhang, H., Zhang, S., Zhang, A., & Chen, B. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.651817 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Cardwell, K., O’Neill, S. M., Tyner, B., Broderick, N., O’Brien, K. K., Smith, S. M., Harrington, P., Ryan, M., & O’Neill, M. (2021) · Reviews in Medical Virology · doi:10.1002/rmv.2244 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Boamah-Kaali, E. A., Mevissen, F. E. F., Owusu‐Agyei, S., Enuameh, Y., Asante, K. P., & Ruiter, R. A. C. (2021) · Open Access Journal of Contraception · doi:10.2147/oajc.s320038 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Restrepo, N. J., Illari, L., Leahy, R., Sear, R. F., Lupu, Y., & Johnson, N. F. (2021) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2021.3138982 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Gendron, M., Mesquita, B., & Barrett, L. F. (2020) · Culture, Mind, and Brain · doi:10.1017/9781108695374.010 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Evaluating the status of theories of emotion in political science and psychology
Marcus, G. E. (2023) · Frontiers in Political Science · doi:10.3389/fpos.2022.1080884 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
The effect of medical artificial intelligence innovation locus on consumer adoption of new products
Huang, X., Wu, X., Cao, X., & Wu, J. (2023) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122902 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Kim, J. H., & Kaemingk, M. (2021) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2021.08.032 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
What makes people feel respected? Toward an integrative psychology of social worth.
Rothers, A., & Cohrs, J. C. (2022) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000393 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Albarello, F., Mula, S., Contu, F., Baldner, C., Kruglanski, A. W., & Pierro, A. (2023) · International Journal of Intercultural Relations · doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101755 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Miyajima, T., & Murakami, F. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.605059 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
How much cultural variation around the globe is explained by ecology?Preprint
Wormley, A. S., Kwon, J. Y., Barlev, M., & Varnum, M. E. W. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/84xjg · Cited by 19 · see citing works
ASIA: Automated Social Identity Assessment using linguistic style
Koschate, M., Naserian, E., Dickens, L., Stuart, A., Russo, A., & Levine, M. (2021) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-020-01511-3 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Lin, C., Yang, Y. E., Malek, K., & Adam, J. C. (2022) · Environmental Modelling & Software · doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105451 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Gilliam, A. N., Schwartz, D. B., Godoy, R., Boduroğlu, A., & Gutchess, A. H. (2022) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/00220221221077710 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Milyavsky, M., Kruglanski, A. W., Gelfand, M. J., Chernikova, M., Ellenberg, M. D., & Pierro, A. (2022) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2022.2037986 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationAlgorithm-Mediated Social Learning in Online Social NetworksPreprint
Brady, W. J., Jackson, J. C., Lindström, B., & Crockett, M. J. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/yw5ah · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationKleef, G. A. V. (2024) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101919 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Mula, S., Santo, D. D., Gelfand, M. J., Cabras, C., & Pierro, A. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713952 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationWhy People “Lie Flat”? An Integrative Framework of Social-Psychological Pathways in China
Zhang, L., Hui, B. P. H., Kong, F., Lu, H., & Chen, S. X. (2025) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/10888683251358516 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Santo, D. D., Talamo, A., Bonaiuto, F., Cabras, C., & Pierro, A. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.652068 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
How social media fatigue feigning and altering emotion discourage the use of social media
Hsu, J. S., Chiu, C., Chang-Chien, Y.-T., & Tang, K. (2023) · Internet Research · doi:10.1108/intr-06-2022-0390 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Hansen, N., & Heu, L. C. (2020) · Social Psychology · doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000436 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Controlling bad-actor-artificial intelligence activity at scale across online battlefields
Johnson, N. F., Sear, R. F., & Illari, L. (2023) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae004 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Culture, Mind, and Brain: Emerging Concepts, Models, and Applications
Kirmayer, L. J., Worthman, C. M., Kitayama, S., Lemelson, R., & Cummings, C. A. (2020) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Lu, Y., Zhang, H., Zhuang, M., Hu, M. K., Zhang, C., Pan, J., Liu, P., & Zhang, J. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130621 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Losing the battle over best-science guidance early in a crisis: COVID-19 and beyond
Illari, L., Restrepo, N. J., & Johnson, N. F. (2022) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo8017 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
The Moral Foundations of Desired Cultural Tightness
Santo, D. D., Gelfand, M. J., Baldner, C., & Pierro, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.739579 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationContu, F., Ellenberg, M. D., Kruglanski, A. W., Pantaleo, G., & Pierro, A. (2023) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-023-05260-2 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
The chronospatial revolution in psychology
Atari, M., Henrich, J., & Schulz, J. (2025) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02229-y · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Hardworking coworkers: A multilevel cross‐national look at group work hours and work–family conflict
Vaziri, H., Benson, G. S., & Campo, M. S. (2019) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.2361 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Collectivistic norms, beliefs and Mexican OCBs: gender and generation differences
Baeza, M. A., Gonzalez, J., Chapa, O., & Rodriguez, R. A. (2022) · Cross Cultural & Strategic Management · doi:10.1108/ccsm-06-2021-0107 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Do Formalist Judges Abide By Their Abstract Principles? A Two-Country Study in Adjudication
Bystranowski, P., Janik, B., Próchnicki, M., Hannikainen, I. R., Almeida, G., & Struchiner, N. (2021) · International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique · doi:10.1007/s11196-021-09846-6 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Rebels with a cause? How norm violations shape dominance, prestige, and influence granting
Kleef, G. A. V., Wanders, F., Vianen, A. E. M. V., Dunham, R. L., Du, X., & Homan, A. C. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294019 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Negative economic shocks and the compliance to social norms
Bogliacino, F., Charris, R., Gómez, C. E., & Montealegre, F. (2024) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/jdm.2024.1 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gelfand, M. J., Harrington, J. R., & Jackson, J. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Harrington, Jesse R.
- Venue
- Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 800-809
- ISSN
- 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6924
- OpenAlex
- W2763678018
- Semantic Scholar
- cf274f312e9f824066bfb839b52bd140f9e1bb1c
- Cited by
- 290
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 28.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Keywords
- social norms, tightness-looseness, cross-cultural psychology, norm enforcement
- MeSH terms
- Cross-Cultural Comparison, Humans, Cultural Diversity, Social Norms
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
