title: Across-Time Change and Variation in Cultural Tightness-Looseness.
abstract: Cultural tightness-looseness, a dimension which describes the strength, multitude, and clarity of social norms in a culture, has proved significant in explaining differences between cultures. Although several studies have compared different cultures on this domain, this study is the first that targets both within-country differences and across-time variation in tightness-looseness. Using data from two nationally representative samples of Estonians, we found that the general tightness level had changed over a period of 10 years but the effect size of the change was small. A significant within country variance in 2002 had disappeared by 2012. Our results suggest that tightness-looseness, similarly to cultural value orientations, is a relatively stable and robust characteristic of culture-that is, change indeed takes place, but slowly. Future studies about across-time change and within-country variance in tightness-looseness should target more culturally diverse and socially divided societies.
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Unit, O.V. Lounasmaa Laboratory, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Anu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Realo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004957:Estonia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires