Mapping cultural tightness and its links to innovation, urbanization, and happiness across 31 provinces in China

Abstract

We conduct a 3-y study involving 11,662 respondents to map cultural tightness—the degree to which a society is characterized by rules and norms and the extent to which people are punished or sanctioned when they deviate from these rules and norms—across 31 provinces in China. Consistent with prior research, we find that culturally tight provinces are associated with increased governmental control, constraints in daily life, religious practices, and exposure to threats. Departing from previous findings that tighter states are more rural, conservative, less creative, and less happy, cultural tightness in China is associated with urbanization, economic growth, better health, greater tolerance toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, and gender equality. Further, analyzing about 3.85 million granted patents in China (1990–2013), we find that provinces with tighter cultures have lower rates of substantive/radical innovations yet higher rates of incremental innovations; individuals from culturally tighter provinces reported higher levels of experienced happiness.

Historically rice-farming societies have tighter social norms in China and worldwide

“…To measure norm tightness around China, we draw on a recent study in PNAS ( 2 ). In the study, researchers mapped out regional differences by surveying 11,662 people across China.…”

“…Tight norms seem to have consequences for people’s psychology. For example, people in societies with tight norms are better at self-monitoring, but also less creative ( 1 – 3 ). Here, we look not at the consequences of tight norms, but, rather, the question of where these norms come from.…”

“…Here, we look not at the consequences of tight norms, but, rather, the question of where these norms come from. Researchers have found that norm differences across societies map onto factors like religion, urbanization, and disease ( 1 – 4 ). We ask whether histories of farming influence which cultures are tight and which are loose, even in places where farming is no longer a part of most people’s everyday life.…”

Where You Are Is Who You Are? The Geographical Account of Psychological Phenomena

“…Across the Pacific Ocean, in a more recent work, Chua et al (2019) mapped cultural tightness and looseness across 31 provinces in China, and revealed its relations to important regional indicators. They found that provincial tightness is positively associated with governmental control, religious practices, and restrictions in daily life.…”

Perception of norm clarity and punishment in affecting value-expressive behaviors

“…This was in accordance with the literature that even tight societies allowed some deviant behaviors. For example, excessive drinking was randomly criticized in Japan (Gelfand & Harrington, 2015), and tight provinces in China had a high tolerance of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community (Chua, Huang, & Jin, 2019). Meanwhile, the gap between the strength of normative influence on different behaviors came from the motive to relate socially to others.…”