Today it’s great to have the cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand on the podcast. Dr. Gelfand is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture– as well as its multilevel consequences for human groups. In addition to publishing numerous articles in many prestigious scientific outlets, she is the author of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World.

In this episode we discuss:

What are social norms?
The difference between tight and loose cultures
The advantages vs. disadvantages of tight vs. loose cultures
Why did tight vs. loose cultures evolve in the first place?
How chronic threat produces a tight culture
Real vs. perceived (imagined) threats
How cross-cultural psychology is expanding
The interdisciplinary expansion of the study of social norms
How organizations can be tight vs. loose
Why the ambidexterity of an organizational culture matters
Why people welcomed ISIS in some contexts
How to anticipate radical shifts in culture around the world in ways that can be predictable
How people differ in terms of what is perceived a threat
The potential for meaningful conversation across the political divide
The importance of persevering in science
How understanding differing cultural codes can help us navigate and negotiate them
How can modifying a nation’s norms address protracted social problems?
Why Michele is so excited to be in the field now more than ever
How these contexts can breed negative behaviors
Why we need to exert more control to achieve the Goldilocks principle
Why we need to be mindful of social norms
Why Michele is hopeful that we can recalibrate social norms that facilitate greater cooperation among cultures

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