Written by Do you feel more creative when you are given rules to follow or no rules at all?
Does freedom inspire or limit you?
Today, we’ll delve into a study regarding the degree of tightness and looseness in cultures and how that impacts innovation.
But first, let’s identify what tightness/looseness in culture means.
Defining Tightness/Looseness
As you may have guessed, the “tightness” or “looseness” of a culture is related to its hierarchical structures and social norms.
Witkin and Berry define it as the
“degree of hierarchical structure among sociocultural elements in a society”
While Gelfand, Nishii, & Raver define it as
“the strength of social norms and degree of sanctioning within societies.”
In other words, loose cultures allow flexible and informal social norms, while tight cultures maintain order, coordination, and control.
Why is Impact Innovation?
For decades, scholars in management and economics have examined the connections between innovativeness and economic performance, often concentrating on conventional “hard factors” such as research and development investments or educational initiatives.
However, in an era of globalization where cultural dynamics play an increasingly crucial role, the impact of cultural characteristics on innovativeness has been relatively overlooked.
In this study, researchers employ various econometric models to examine the associations between cultural tightness and looseness and national innovativeness.
The Study
In line with the theoretical framework, researchers used the Global Innovation Index and the rank cultural tightness–looseness combination index.
They identified a significant positive association between cultural looseness, as measured by the Global Innovation Index (Uz (2015a)), and national innovativeness.
However, this correlation did not hold when using data provided by Gelfand et al. (2011a).
Researchers concluded that the higher number of surveyed countries, larger sample sizes, and a focus on specific tolerance in Uz’s (2015a) study provide a more comprehensive and accurate representation of cultural tightness-looseness, enhancing the reliability of estimation models.
Diversity is an Asset
The study’s interpretation of the results reveals a significant positive connection between innovativeness and cultural looseness when tightness-looseness is measured as a spread of norms.
This suggests that societal pluralism and diversity of opinions contribute to innovativeness.
However, cultural looseness does not equate to high individual tolerance in general; rather, it signifies the endurance of varying degrees of specific tolerance of controversial issues within an open society.
These findings align with studies at different levels, indicating that diversity, when managed constructively, serves as an asset for innovativeness rather than an obstacle.
This study emphasizes the importance of balancing diversity with participatory safety to enhance team identity and foster creativity.
The cultural values of a society, as reflected in its approach to innovation, play a crucial role in shaping its economic and creative landscape.
Recognizing the paradoxical nature of cultural looseness—simultaneously allowing individual freedom and embracing culture-specific norms—can provide valuable insights into fostering societal innovativeness.
Success Across Cultures 