Chinese Culture using Gelfand’s “tight-loose”

Name
Subject
Date
Analysis of Chinese Culture using Gelfand’s “tight-loose”
A debate exists regarding how societies should be organized. On the one hand, some belief in individual freedoms and autonomy, where people can do what they want. Those who support this view advocate that autonomy enables people to self-actualize and maximize their societal happiness. On the other hand, others want societies that are more constrained. Those who support this notion insist that rules and regulations are crucial in creating a society that is secure and stable, hence, happiness and progress for everyone. Author Michelle Galfand indicates that societies exhibit a degree of tightness and looseness. She sees tight cultures as those with strong social norms and little tolerance for deviance, while loose cultures as those with weak social norms and hence highly permissive. An evaluation of the Chinese society using Gelfand’s “tight-loose” tool demonstrates that it is a tight culture
China has a higher score on the tightness-looseness scale compared to a majority of European countries and the U.S. (Gelfand). The higher score demonstrates that China is strict about social norms. As a result, Chinese culture has less tolerance for deviance. The Chinese culture is more about rule making as opposed to rule-breaking. People are more used to following rules as opposed to breaking them. For instance, pedestrians and drives are more likely to obey traffic rules in Beijing, China than in New York City in the U.S. The tightness culture ensures that China maintains social harmony. In China, the tightness enhances collectivist culture stresses the essence of developing interpersonal relations. People value having stronger interpersonal relationships.
Due to the emphasis on social norms, behaviors that threaten the social harmony of the society are strictly forbidden in China. Behaviors like aggression are forbidden because they disrupt the social harmony of society. Behaviors that appear to threaten the established institutions like family are discouraged. For instance, Confucianism encourages the respect for family values. Things that threaten the family institution like divorce are discouraged (Zheng 12). Similarly, when parents bring up their children, they teach them the virtue of self-control. Children are socialized to avoid behaviors like bullying and aggression (Smith, Keumjoo and Yuichi 171). Individuals are required to remain ethical in their dealings, whether personal or in business. Anyone who engages in a behavior that threatens social stability is punished.
The cultural tightness in China has negative implications on innovation. Due to strict control, individuals prefer incremental changes rather than radical changes. The people are cautions so that they do not make mistakes. Hence, experimenting with new ideas becomes challenging. The discouragement of deviation implies that there is less risk-taking (Licht). As a result, the process of acquiring new ideas and transmitting them is slow. There is, therefore, less diversity among the people. Change in such a society is like...