The Secret Life of Social Norms | Michele Gelfand, PhD | TEDxPaloAltoSalon
Summary
TLDREl guion explora el enigma de la cultura, una fuerza omnipresente y a la vez invisible que influye en todo, desde la política hasta la crianza. La autora, tras experimentar el choque cultural, posgraduó en psicología intercultural y descubrió que las normas sociales varían en su rigidez, clasificando a grupos como 'estrictos' o 'permeables'. Estas diferencias están ligadas a amenazas y son clave para el entendimiento del comportamiento. La cultura no es destino fijo; podemos ajustar nuestras normas sociales para mejorar el mundo, enfatizando la importancia de un equilibrio entre estrictitud y flexibilidad.
Takeaways
- 🧩 La cultura es un puzle fascinante, omnipresente pero invisible, que afecta todo, desde la política hasta la crianza de los hijos.
- 🌐 La diferencia cultural es significativa y puede ser analizada a través de la psicología intercultural para entender las diferencias profundas entre grupos humanos.
- 👨🏫 El autor cambió su carrera por la curiosidad cultural, optando por una doctorado en psicología intercultural para desentrañar los códigos culturales.
- 🌍 Diferencias culturales como las leyes en Singapur o las costumbres en Nueva Zelanda muestran la influencia de la cultura en la vida diaria.
- 🚦 La adherencia a las normas sociales es fundamental en la vida humana, y su fortaleza varía entre diferentes grupos culturales.
- 🔑 La distinción entre 'cultures tight' (fuertes) y 'cultures loose' (suaves) es crucial para entender el comportamiento en todo el mundo.
- 🏛 Los grupos 'tight' tienen más orden, leyes y seguridad, y menos delitos, mientras que los grupos 'loose' son más abiertos y creativos.
- 🌪 Las amenazas, ya sean naturales o humanas, influyen en la rigidez o flexibilidad de las normas culturales.
- 🏞️ La comparación entre Singapur y Nueva Zelanda ilustra cómo las condiciones geográficas y demográficas moldean la cultura.
- 🏢 La clase social también se ve influenciada por la cultura, con diferencias en la percepción y el seguimiento de las reglas.
- 🌐 La polarización política y el surgimiento del populismo pueden ser entendidos mejor a través de la percepción de amenaza y la respuesta cultural.
- ⚖️ La importancia de encontrar un equilibrio entre 'tightness' y 'looseness' para lograr la felicidad y el bienestar en la vida cotidiana y en las organizaciones.
Q & A
¿Qué es el misterio fascinante que ha estado estudiando durante 30 años el narrador?
-El misterio fascinante que ha estado estudiando es la cultura, una fuerza poderosa que está omnipresente pero invisible, y que afecta todo, desde la política hasta la crianza, y que es distintivamente humana.
¿Por qué decidió el narrador cambiar sus planes de ser médico y optar por una doctorado en psicología intercultural?
-Después de experimentar un fuerte choque cultural durante un semestre en el Reino Unido, el narrador se dio cuenta de lo poderosa que es la cultura y de lo poco que sabía sobre ella y sobre sí mismo, lo que lo llevó a abandonar sus planes de ser médico y buscar entender estas 'códigos culturales' más profundas a través de la psicología intercultural.
¿Qué es un ejemplo de una diferencia cultural que el narrador encontró en Singapur?
-En Singapur, el narrador menciona que las personas pueden ser multadas por cosas como masticar chicle, no vaciar el inodoro o caminar desnudos en sus casas con las cortinas abiertas.
¿Cómo describe el narrador la cultura de Nueva Zelanda en contraste con la de Singapur?
-El narrador describe a Nueva Zelanda como un lugar mucho más relajado y abierto, donde las personas pueden caminar descalzas en bancos, decorar sus vallas con gran cantidad de brasieres y tener un mago nacional, en lugar de castigar a alguien como un desviado, el Primero Ministro le pidió que fuera el mago oficial del país.
¿Qué es un 'thought experiment' y cómo se utiliza en la presentación para ilustrar la importancia de las normas sociales?
-Un 'thought experiment' es un ejercicio mental que se utiliza para explorar hipotéticas situaciones o conceptos. En la presentación, el narrador utiliza un 'thought experiment' para ilustrar cómo sería un mundo sin normas sociales, con el fin de mostrar la importancia de estas normas para predecir y coordinar el comportamiento de los demás.
¿Qué descubrimiento hizo el narrador en un estudio sobre la relación entre la cultura y el cumplimiento de normas sociales?
-El narrador descubrió que, al igual que con las personalidades de las personas, también se pueden clasificar a los grupos en términos de la fuerza de sus normas sociales, identificando un continuo que va desde los grupos 'tibios' con normas fuertes y castigos para la desviación, hasta los grupos 'sucios' con normas más débiles y permisivos.
¿Cuáles son algunas de las ventajas y desventajas de las culturas 'tibias' y 'sucias' según el estudio mencionado por el narrador?
-Las culturas 'tibias' tienen ventajas como el orden, la seguridad, menos crimen, uniformidad y mayor autocontrol, pero también pueden ser más opresivas. Por otro lado, las culturas 'sucias' son más abiertas a diferentes tipos de personas e ideas, son más creativas y receptivas al cambio, pero pueden ser más desorganizadas y tener más problemas de autoregulación.
¿Qué relación encontró el narrador entre la cultura 'tibio' y el sentido de amenaza en un grupo?
-El narrador encontró que las culturas 'tibias' suelen surgir en entornos con un alto sentido de amenaza, ya sea por desastres naturales, invasión humana, enfermedades o alta densidad de población, lo que requiere reglas estrictas para coordinar y sobrevivir.
¿Cómo explica el narrador el aumento de la tolerancia a las normas sociales en los Estados Unidos entre los estados costeros y los estados del sur?
-El narrador explica que los estados costeros tienden a ser más 'sucios' y abiertos, mientras que algunos estados del sur y partes del Medio Oeste son más 'tibios'. Esta diferencia se debe a que los estados 'tibios' enfrentan más amenazas, lo que promueve un mayor orden y estabilidad a través de normas estrictas.
¿Cómo se relaciona el nivel de 'tightness' o 'looseness' de una cultura con la creatividad y la tolerancia según el estudio del narrador?
-Según el estudio, las culturas 'sucias' tienden a ser más creativas y tolerantes hacia las personas y las ideas diferentes, mientras que las culturas 'tibias', aunque pueden ser más seguras y ordenadas, suelen ser menos creativas y menos abiertas a los cambios y nuevas ideas.
¿Qué es el principio de 'Goldilocks' de 'tightness' y 'looseness' y cómo se aplica en la vida cotidiana según el narrador?
-El principio de 'Goldilocks' de 'tightness' y 'looseness' sugiere que lo ideal es encontrar un equilibrio entre la rigidez y la flexibilidad en las normas, ya que los extremos en cualquier dirección pueden ser problemáticos. Esto se aplica en la vida cotidiana al entender nuestras propias mentalidades, cultivar la empatía con otras mentalidades y utilizar el poder de las normas sociales para mejorar nuestro mundo.
Outlines
🌏 El Acertijo de la Cultura
El primer párrafo introduce el estudio de la cultura como un acertijo omnipresente e invisible que afecta todo, desde la política hasta la crianza de los hijos. La narradora comparte su experiencia personal de choque cultural durante un semestre en el Reino Unido y cómo esto la llevó a descartar su plan de ser médica para enfocarse en la psicología intercultural. El párrafo destaca la importancia de entender las normas sociales y cómo varían enormemente en diferentes lugares del mundo, como Singapur, Nueva Zelanda y Alemania, y cómo estas diferencias pueden ser desconcertantes sin un conocimiento profundo de la cultura.
🔗 Las Normas Sociales como Glue
En el segundo párrafo, se discute cómo las normas sociales son esenciales para predecir y coordinar el comportamiento de los demás, actuando como el 'pegamento' que nos mantiene unidos. Se contrastan las diferencias entre grupos 'tibios' y 'suaves', con los primeros teniendo normas y castigos más fuertes y los segundos siendo más permisivos. Se mencionan los hallazgos de un estudio publicado en la revista Science, donde se clasifican a los grupos en función de la rigidez de sus normas, y cómo esto influye en aspectos como la delincuencia, la uniformidad y la creatividad. También se explora la relación entre la rigidez cultural y la amenaza, ya sea natural o proveniente de otros seres humanos.
🏛 Las Diferencias Culturales y sus Consecuencias
Este tercer párrafo profundiza en cómo la rigidez o flexibilidad de las normas culturales afecta la conducta a nivel individual y colectivo. Se describe cómo los estados 'tibios' en los EE. UU. tienen más orden y estabilidad, mientras que los estados 'suaves' son más creativos y tolerantes. Se utiliza el concepto de 'Tightness-Looseness' para analizar diferencias en la clase social, donde se observa que las clases trabajadoras tienden a ser más rígidas que las clases altas. Se sugiere que los líderes ambidieztros, que pueden implementar normas rígidas o flexibles según sea necesario, son los más efectivos.
💡 Aprovechando el Codigo de Rigidez y Flexibilidad
El último párrafo concluye con la idea de que tanto la rigidez extrema como la flexibilidad extrema pueden ser problemáticas, y que un equilibrio, denominado 'Principio de Oro de la Rigidez y Flexibilidad', es necesario para la felicidad y el bienestar. Se ofrecen ideas prácticas sobre cómo se puede aplicar esta comprensión en la vida diaria, como comprender nuestras propias mentalidades, cultivar empatía por las mentalidades de otros y utilizar las normas sociales para mejorar el mundo. El discurso finaliza con una reflexión sobre cómo podemos ajustar nuestras normas sociales para abordar los desafíos de la era digital y más allá.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cultura
💡Normas Sociales
💡Estrictitud Cultural
💡Cooperación
💡Conflicto
💡Amistad
💡Diferencias Culturales
💡Psicología Transcultural
💡Amistad Nacional
💡Populismo
💡Balanza
Highlights
The speaker has been studying culture for 30 years, emphasizing its invisibility and powerful influence on human life.
The quest to discover 'the laws of culture' to understand and potentially improve global cooperation and conflict.
Personal anecdote about culture shock experienced during a semester abroad in the UK, leading to a deeper interest in cultural study.
The idea that understanding cultural forces can lead to self-awareness, prompting a career shift from medicine to cross-cultural psychology.
Cultural differences observed globally, such as strict laws in Singapore contrasted with the relaxed attitudes in New Zealand.
The concept of 'tight' and 'loose' cultures, with examples of social norms and their enforcement in various countries.
A large study published in 'Science' journal classifying groups based on the strength of their social norms.
Tight cultures are associated with less crime, more uniformity, and stronger self-control, while loose cultures are more open and creative.
The role of threats, both real and perceived, in shaping the tightness or looseness of a culture.
How population density and historical threats contribute to the development of strict social norms, exemplified by Singapore.
The application of tight-loose cultural theory to understand differences between US states, with the South being tighter and the coasts looser.
The impact of social class on perceptions of rules, with the working class valuing tightness and the upper class leaning towards looseness.
Early development of cultural mindsets observed in children's reactions to rule-breaking puppets in a laboratory setting.
The rise of populism linked to feelings of threat and the desire for tighter cultural norms.
The 'Goldilocks principle' of cultural tightness and looseness, advocating for a balanced approach for optimal happiness and functioning.
Practical suggestions for using the tight-loose cultural framework to improve personal and societal outcomes.
The potential of harnessing social norms to address modern challenges, such as the lack of norms on the Internet.
Transcripts
for 30 years I've been studying a
fascinating puzzle
it's omnipresent but it's invisible
we rarely recognize it it's distinctly
human no other species has it it
produces a lot of cooperation but also a
lot of conflict this puzzle is culture
culture is a powerful force all around
us affecting everything from our
politics to our parenting for our
nation's to our neurons and we need to
know more about it we've used our big
brains to accomplish many technical
feats we've split the atom we've mapped
the human genome and we've even
discovered the laws of gravity but what
if we could discover the laws of culture
the secret codes that are driving our
differences then maybe we can create a
better planet for us all truth be told I
wasn't always so interested in culture I
was a sheltered kid from a Long Island
with a classic New Yorker cartoon view
of the world
there's New York we acknowledge there's
New Jersey but then there's basically
rocks the Pacific Ocean in the rest of
the world this view of the world was
challenged when I ventured off to the UK
for a semester abroad and I remember
experiencing massive culture shock and
calling my father and among other things
I was confiding with him how puzzled I
was that people were travelling from
London to Paris or to answer them just
for the weekend
and my dad in his quintessential
Brooklyn accent said to me it's just
like going from New York to Pennsylvania
and that metaphor gave me so much
comfort that the very next day I booked
a little budget trip to Egypt I figured
it just like going from New York to
California my dad was not very happy but
in my travels around Egypt and rest of
the world I started to recognize how
powerful this forces of culture but I
knew so little about it and by extension
I knew so little about myself so I
ditched my plans to become a medical
doctor and I got a PhD in cross-cultural
psychology I wanted to use the tools of
science to understand these deeper
cultural codes
that time I've been traveling the world
trying to understand lots of puzzling
differences so for example in Singapore
why are people fined for things like
chewing gum or not flushing the toilet
or walking around their homes naked with
the curtains open go to over to New
Zealand in contrast and you'll see
people walking barefoot in banks
you'll see them decorating their fences
with large quantities of bras New
Zealand is also the only place that I
know that has its own national wizard
this guy here is actually a prior
offender the streets of New Zealand and
was lecturing on everything from rugby
to religion and rather being punished as
a deviant the Prime Minister asked him
to be the official wizard New Zealand
and he was charged with keeping the
country entertained which he did he's
found building large nests on libraries
and hatching himself from eggs in art
museums other puzzling trends can be
seen all around the world why do Germans
wait very patiently at street corners
when there's no cars in sight when a new
teenager a newer car New Jersey you see
people jaywalking with great frequency
even with kids in tow in Germany they're
also inventing other incentives to keep
people staying put
it's called street punk and you might
not be able to see it right away but you
see this guy here is playing a game of
electric ping pong on the street corner
with the dude across the street and
actually this game tells them when the
light is going to change on other
serious notes why is it that in the
Netherlands you can smoke pot openly
whereas in Indonesia you can get the
death penalty for that same behavior or
closer to home there's other trends that
elude us why are we giving our kids more
and more unique names as an aside one of
my colleagues was in the supermarket and
asked where the candy was and they said
she doesn't work there anymore
and why are we getting fatter and fatter
in our country is there anything that
can help us explain these kinds of
diverse patterns these examples and many
more reflect something very fundamental
how strictly groups abide by social
norms all groups have social norms or
rules or behavior we follow them
constantly and actually we rarely stop
and think about how much we need social
norms I'd like to do a thought
experiment with you right now
imagine you live in a world where people
drive on either side of the street as
they'd wish or they ignore traffic
lights in this world you're in your
favorite restaurant and people are
chewing with their mouths wide open
they're burping really loudly and
they're stealing food from each other's
plates or imagine you board an elevator
and people are facing the back and
they're shaking their own BIOS on each
other or in this world
imagine that sex is not reserved for
private places people do it on airplanes
on buses and in movie theatres this is a
world without social norms or any
agreed-upon standards for behavior
luckily humans invented social norms to
abour these kinds of scenarios they help
us predict these to others behavior they
help us coordinate they're the glue that
keep us together but what I found is
that this glue is stronger in some
groups than others some groups are tight
they have strong norms and punishment
for deviance other groups are loose they
have weaker norms and they're much more
permissive and it turns out that this
distinction is really important in
understanding behavior all around the
world from abroad at home I first
discovered this difference in a large
study that I did with colleagues from
around the world the results of which
were published in the journal science
what we found was that just like we can
classify people in terms of their
personalities we can also classify
groups in terms of the strength of their
norms so cut loose is a continuum some
groups like Japan and Singapore Austria
and Germany Vere tight other groups like
New Zealand or Brazil Greece or the
Netherlands beer loose and what we found
was that tight and loose confers really
important trade-offs for groups that we
don't recognize so tight groups have the
corner on order they have a lot more law
enforcement and also security and they
have much less crime there's a great
wait wait don't tell me show on NPR
where Peter Siegel's asking the audience
what if Japanese policemen need more of
and we're all guessing do they need
higher pay do they need more vacation
actually they need more crime Japan is
such low crime that these police
officers in some places we're trying to
Ed people on to commit minor crimes
because they were so bored type cultures
also have more uniformity and what
people wear and what people drive and
even in their city clocks I analyzed how
similar the clocks were in city streets
all around the world in type cultures
they're almost identical city clocks but
in loose cultures they say something
very different and you're not entirely
sure what time it is
type cultures with their strong rules
have people also regulating their
behavior more they have more
self-control type cultures have less
alcoholism they have less debt and
they're less fat lose cultures tend to
be more disorganized they have more
crime they have less synchrony and they
have a host of self-regulation failures
but loose cultures corner the market on
openness they're far more open to many
different types of people people from
different religions from races
immigrants people with disabilities many
stigmatized people when one experiment I
did I asked my research assistants from
all over the world to wear fake facial
warts you can buy them on the internet
or they were wearing tattoos and nose
rings and they were asking for help on
city streets or in stores and there was
a very clear pattern people in loose
cultures were much more likely to get
helped when they were wearing this
stigma as compared to tight cultures
whose cultures are open also open to
more ideas they're much more creative
and they're much more open to change and
Thai culture struggle with openness so
you might be asking by now what causes
these differences tight lewis cultures
don't share any obvious characteristics
geography or language or religion or
tradition but there is a hidden
rationale and it has to do with threat
tight cultures have a lot of threat
whether it's from Mother Nature think
disasters and famine something that
Japan has been struggling with for
centuries or that threat might come from
other humans think invasions or the
spread of disease or even high
population density and it makes a lot of
sense when you have a lot of threat you
need those rules to help coordinate to
survive when you have less threat you
don't need as many rules you can be more
permissive let's go back to Singapore
which is called the fine country because
it has so many punishments for various
behaviors it's a very threatened country
it has a dearth of natural resources it
has a lot of conflict in its past and it
has extremely high population density
and astonishing 20,000 people per square
mile it's like living in an elevator a
lot of your life compare that to New
Zealand that has 50 people per square
mile and more sheep per capita than
people when you live with a lot of
people jammed around you you need rules
to help avoid chaos and conflict in
Singapore this overpopulation can also
help us explain the ban on gum in a
place where there's so many mouths per
mile gum was causing a lot of problems
people like they'd like to chew gum and
throw it on the floor
and it was causing a massive mess in
Singapore it was even causing elevators
and trains to malfunction because the
gum wads were covering up sensors so Lee
Kuan Yew said guys we're going to just
ban gum we're going to get rid of this
temptation is the simple solution and if
you have been Singapore you might
actually also understand why this makes
sense once you grasp the tight news lens
you can see these differences all around
us rather than red or blue we can also
differentiate our United States 50
states in terms of a continuum tight and
loose in our research we could see the
South in some parts of the Midwest
vier tight and the coasts tend to veer
loose tight stays just like type nations
tend to have more threat there's a
remarkable similarity between scores on
tightness and our data and mother
nature's fury in terms of natural
disasters tight and loose cultures also
reflect the same trade-off at the state
level tight States have got order and
stability they have more law enforcement
and they have more self-control and
divorce and less homelessness tied
states are even much more polite my
beloved New York State is ranked number
one on rudeness and that explains why
New Yorkers who really like to flip
people off get in a lot of trouble when
they do that in the South I've witnessed
that firsthand but blue states again
corner the market on openness the more
creative they're much more tolerant and
even if the more rude they tend to be
much more fun according to our surveys
once your grass began this tight loose
lens you can also use to analyze other
differences that have eluded us let's
take social class we tend to think about
class differences typically in terms of
bank accounts but here again our deeper
cultural codes are helping to drive
these differences let's do another
thought experiment I want you to think
about what comes to mind when you see
this phrase follow the rules just what
comes to mind when we have done this
experiment with the working class and
upper class we see a striking difference
the working class comes up with many
positive associations with this phrase
good structure safety it's the upper
class this he's very negative
connotation about rules goody two-shoes
nuisance in our research the working
class is far tighter than the upper
class and it makes sense the experience
a lot of threat they're worried about
falling into poverty they work in more
dangerous jobs where rules help keep a
bit safe and they also live in more
dangerous neighborhoods where rules can
keep kids out of trouble it's the upper
class that has more of a safety net they
have less threatened so they can afford
to be more rule breakers actually it
explains why California the University
of California Berkeley researchers found
that Mercedes and other upper class cars
were much more likely to violate traffic
rules and even cut off pedestrians as
compared to plumber vans and lower class
vehicles but again just like our other
research we could see the trade-off with
class differences in our research it's
the upper class the rule breakers that
are more creative and they're far more
tolerant of people who are different
amazingly these differences arise very
early we brought three-year-olds into
the laboratory and we couldn't ask them
exactly what do you think about rules
but we wanted to see how did the working
class in upper class react to a puppet
who violates the rules this is max the
puppet they befriend the puppet and
they're playing games with him according
to the rules they learn and all of a
sudden the middle experiment max the
puppet becomes max the rule violator and
he starts announcing that he's playing
the rules correctly and what you see is
a striking difference again the working
class kids are upset by these
normalizations
it's the upper class that's more likely
to laugh and they let max off the hook
tightness and looseness can also help us
understand many really bewildering
things happening in the world
take the rise of populism it's not
explained easily by just some kind of
mesmerizing personalities in fact it's
explained better by feelings of threat
before the US election we surveyed
people and the people that felt very
threatened whether it was by Isis were
immigrants or North Korea wanted the
country to be tighter and this predicted
their vote for Trump same exact pattern
in the elections in France when we
collected data there and it also
explains the the patterns of brexit
threats don't even have to be real to
tighten people up in my laboratory I can
give people fake threat about disasters
or invasions and it tightens them up
immediately they want stricter rules and
strong leaders and of course leaders
around the world are using this tight
psychology they're amplifying and
exaggerating threats they're targeting
the groups that are most threatened in
order to be popular and this is not just
relevant to the modern age this has been
happening for centuries and it
capitalizes on this very powerful
evolutionary principle of threat and
tightness I want to leave you with a
question that's very important which is
which is better tight or loose
philosophers have been debating this for
centuries is it better to have rules or
better have freedom Plato
Confucius and Hobbes wanted rules they
wanted tightness John Stuart Mill's and
even Freud advocated for freedom for
looseness which is correct
actually what if neither are correct
while certainly groups have Devere tight
or loose for good reasons what I found
is that groups that
too extreme in either direction have a
lot of problems when we get extremely
loose things become normal Asst and
unpredictable like that world that we
thought about earlier and it's
unbearable but on the flip side when we
get too tight it's oppressive and also
unbearable this is what I call the
Goldilocks principle of tightness and
looseness that we need a balance of the
strength of norms in their everyday
lives for the maximal happiness and
we've seen this with our own research in
Nations we see that groups that are
either too loose or too tight have more
suicide and less happiness it even
applies to our households parents who
are too over-controlling or parents who
are too laissez-faire produced
maladaptive kids it's the balance and
households of type moves that produces
healthy families it also applies to
organizations the best leaders are
ambidextrous they know how to deploy
tightness and looseness at the right
time an innovation is a great example of
this we need looseness to create ideas
but we need tightness to implement them
so I want to leave you with a few
different ideas of how you can use the
tight loose code in your everyday life
the first is that we should understand
our own mindsets we each have a certain
default on the Titleist spectrum based
on our own personal experiences on my
website I have a quiz where you can see
where do you fall on that spectrum and
it's very empowering to understand where
we are and why we became that way it
helps us to understand our own actions
and reactions there are variety of
settings and with people the second is
that we need to cultivate empathy for
others mindsets often people that we
have a lot of conflict with or people
that we have the biggest differences in
our tight lose mindsets and
understanding where they come from can
be great to understand and empathize and
build better relationships and finally
we can harness the power of social norms
to better our world culture isn't
destiny we can tighten up norms and
there's getting too loose or loosen up
norms when they're getting too tight the
Internet's a perfect example it offers
us a lot of advantages in terms of
efficiencies and connections but let's
face it it's a norm las' place and it
needs
tightening luckily for us humans
developed and invented social norms and
we can use them to better our planet
thank you
[Applause]
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