Cultural Tightness–Looseness (Gelfand et al.)
Cross-culturalReliability: alpha 0.81 (national-level aggregation)3 sample items
About this scale
A 6-item measure of perceived tightness or looseness of social norms in a culture. Tight cultures have strong norms and low tolerance of deviance; loose cultures have weak norms and high tolerance. Measures perceived rather than enacted norms.
Sample item(s)
“There are many social norms that people are supposed to abide by in this country.”
“In this country, if someone acts in an inappropriate way, others will strongly disapprove.”
“People in this country almost always comply with social norms.”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.81 (national-level aggregation). As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Use country-level scores from Gelfand's database for cross-cultural research.
Source & citation
Gelfand, M. J., Raver, J. L., Nishii, L., Leslie, L. M., Lun, J., Lim, B. C., et al. (2011): Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study. Science, Vol. 332, No. 6033, pp. 1100–1104.
Gelfand et al. (2011): Differences between tight and loose cultures. Science, 332, 1100–1104.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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