Across-time change and within-country variance in cultural tightness-looseness in Estonia
Date
2014
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
An article by Gelfand and colleagues (2006) brought the construct of cultural tightnesslooseness
to the attention of social scientists once again. Tight cultures have strong social
norms and low tolerance of deviant behaviour, whereas loose cultures have weak norms and
high tolerance of different behaviour. The aim of the current study was to examine the
across-time change (over ten years) as well as the within-country variance in tightnesslooseness
in Estonia. It was found that the tightness score increased significantly in Estonia
from 2002 to 2012, but the change was rather small. A significant within country variance in
2002 (females had slightly higher tightness scores than males and people who had at the most
primary or secondary education reported higher tightness than respondents who had higher
education) had disappeared by 2012. An item-level analysis revealed that both in 2002 and
2012 people believed that there are many social norms in Estonia and inappropriate
behaviour will be disapproved by others, but in 2012 respondents reported that the norms
were clearer; there was more general agreement about appropriate vs. inappropriate
behaviour and expected compliance with social norms was higher. The possible reasons for
strengthened tightness in 2012 compared with 2002 include the end of the transition phase in
Estonia and the adoption of new norms through integration with Europe. Such
homogenisation of tightness levels across different social subgroups is in line with previous
research showing identity clarification and homogenisation in post-transition countries.
Further research about the temporal stability and intracultural variation of tightness-looseness
in more politically stable but also more heterogeneous countries is needed in order to confirm
and extend our current results.