Michele J. Gelfand

According to a new book by cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand, “Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World,” much of the diversity in the way we think and act derives from a key difference—how tightly or loosely we adhere to social norms. Looking a countries, states, cities, workplaces and even families, Gelfand shows how tight and loose cultures shape our entire lives, and play a big role in the decisions we make around where we live, what company we work for and how we approach others.

Research on how people make and break rules can help us understand each other.

Events like the 2015 Paris attacks, the 2015 San Bernardino shootings, the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and others since are seared into our memories. While many details of these attacks were different, they do have a striking commonality: these attacks were perpetrated by immigrant residents or citizens of the targeted country. Such tragedies raise a puzzling question: what would make someone turn against their own country?

In a study of traffic patterns, researchers at the University of California found that drivers of luxury cars were far more likely to cut off other cars than were lower status cars.

These days, it seems like the best path to political success is to become an autocrat.

Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods was met with a lot of fanfare. In the words of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, the partnership was “love at first sight.” A year later, such optimism seems hard to find at Whole Foods.

My research shows that when people feel threatened they want ‘tighter’ social norms, with profound consequences for politics

Is your organization “tight” or “loose”?

Seventeen years ago today, 9/11 brought America together. We also tightened the rules of our country dramatically.

We spend many of our waking hours in organizations, but we rarely think about the underlying cultural DNA that is guiding our behavior at work.

ISIS filled a vital cultural need. Its leaders promised, and delivered, badly needed social order in areas reeling from disintegration.

The red state-blue state dividing line between U.S. states ignores a much deeper history and psychology that each state possesses.

Available research on economic sanctions attests to their limited effectiveness at best.

Is there something wrong with the culture at United Airlines?

Explaining faultlines in Europe

There were many reasons to oppose President Trump’s travel ban on refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which is now blocked by a federal court’s temporary restraining order.

The strongest Trump supporters were those who felt that America was under grave threat.

The final debate of the 2016 presidential election campaign is Oct. 19. Four scholars suggest questions they’d like to hear addressed by the candidates.

For the past 10 months, Donald Trump has been a political enigma...What is “Trump culture,” and where is it coming from?

A warmer embrace could stop homegrown terrorism.