A study of nearly 12,000 people across 31 Chinese provinces suggests that cultural tightness--the degree to which a society is characterized by norms and the extent to which deviations are punished--in China is associated with threat exposure, constraints on individual behavior, and government controls and religious practices; provinces with tighter cultures had reduced rates of substantive or radical innovation but increased rates of incremental innovation, urbanization, economic growth, health, gender equality, tolerant social attitudes, and happiness.
Article #18-15723: "Mapping cultural tightness and its links to innovation, urbanization, and happiness across 31 provinces in China," by Roy Y. J. Chua, Kenneth Guang-Lih Huang, and Mengzi Jin.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kenneth Guang-Lih Huang, National University of Singapore, SINGAPORE; tel: +65-66015059; e-mail: kennethhuang@nus.edu.sg
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences