Freakonomics Radiois produced by Stitcher and Renbud Radio. Also, the people who settled in different areas in the U.S. brought with them their own cultural norms and values, and set the stage for different levels of tight-loose within the nation. Why have rules if you dont use them? And the rest is history, if you like. Subscribe for more videos like this: http://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=92YplusThe Best of Freakonomics with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, m. The U.S., according to this analysis, is comparatively a short-term country. GELFAND: This has always been the big question, that with the internet and globalization were going to become more similar. HOFSTEDE: Thats my idea. They can freely float about. Read the excerpt from Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's Freakonomics. 1, the most individualistic country in the world, 91 out of 100 on the Hofstede scale of individualism. The first one measures the level of individualism in a given culture, versus collectivism. In contrast, the Freakonomics blog features the work of Levitt's friends, and SuperFreakonomics relies heavily on anecdotes, gee-whiz technology reporting and work by Levitt's friends and colleagues. That is generated by looseness. HOFSTEDE: Masculine society means that if you show power, that gives you social status. So were all constraining one another through our collective culture. Why not? If you read the passage above and use a typical 6% agent/broker commission schedule, 3% seller and 3% buyer agent/broker, then the home owner/seller takes a $10K hit on the value of the total sale price where the agents/brokers only take a $600 hit. We developed these linguistic dictionaries to analyze language reflective of tight and loose, in newspapers and books, tight words like restrain, comply, adhere, enforce, as compared to words like allow and leeway, flexibility, empower. The answer to that is usually: no, you cant. But if you want to talk about humans, Homo sapiens, then you have a generalization problem. Since his first study, many people have started to do similar studies. Within countries, there is of course enormous variation. By this time, Hofstede the Elder had already gotten a Ph.D. in social science. You can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts,Spotify,Stitcher, orwherever you get your podcasts. HOFSTEDE: This is not about a homogenous soup, but its about the power of the millions versus the individual and the power of ostracism. We look at how these traits affect our daily lives and why we couldnt change them even if we wanted to. And thats going to cultivate certain tonal abilities, which could feed into certain kinds of music, and things like that. the Machiguenga were much closer to the predictions of Homo economicus, The Relationship Between Cultural TightnessLooseness and COVID-19 Cases and Deaths: A Global Analysis, States of Emergency: The Most Disaster-Prone States in the US, A Global Analysis of Cultural Tightness in Non-Industrial Societies, Have You Tried to Help Your Pet Lose Weight? So, say its $100, and the first player can offer a portion of the $100 to a second player. That was our hypothesis, at least. As for the U.S., Gelfand says the U.S. is not only loose but getting progressively looser. Whereas we usually describe a scent by saying something that it smells like.. Ultimatum Game Bargaining Among the Machiguenga of the Peruvian Amazon, U.S. Student Tells of Pain Of His Caning In Singapore, Singapores Relations With U.S. 1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of Freakonomics. DUBNER: Name some of the highest and lowest countries on this dimension. If you no longer even pretend to be one people and to be fair to all the citizens of your country, then youre not going down a road that leads to a great future. This is the dimension based on data from the World Values Survey. Level of inequality C. Family composition D . HENRICH: You want to be the same self, regardless of who youre talking to or what context youre in, whereas in other places it seems to be okay to morph and shift your personality, depending on your context. If it were, Afghanistan and Venezuela, even Iran might be U.S.-style democracies by now. All contents Freakonomics. But oh, the places you'll go! DUBNER: When youre inclined to look at the U.S. in a positive light, do you find uncertainty avoidance to be largely a force for the good in terms of creating and building a strong society, or do you think its more ? One of the most important figures in economic individualism is the famous Scottish economist, Adam Smith. DUBNER: Although the U.S. is relatively high on suicide and homicide, so are we an outlier in that regard as well? Both are long-term oriented, so they see a lot of context around things. Downloads: 18. That is one of the main guests in todays episode. Because remember, threat is what can drive tightness. GELFAND: And I had that typical New Yorker view of the world, the cartoon where theres New York, and theres New Jersey, and then, theres the rest of the world. So the U.S. produces the sort of Wal-Mart equivalent of religions: big churches giving the people what they want, high pageantry. You look at parents and how they treat their kids art. GELFAND: Were fiercely interdisciplinary. And so often, theyll just point at some other country on the map. Heres how it works. It turns out that Americans were among the least likely to conform. Michele Gelfand and several co-authors recently published a study in The Lancet about how Covid played out in loose versus tight cultures. Each and every person has individual reasons for pursuing a career, or goal. But somehow, that diversity and that early celebration of permissiveness has overridden that. So you could over-eat and over-indulge and over-drink. If . Caning as in a spanking, basically, on the bare buttocks, with a half-inch-thick rattan cane. Freakonomics (2005) aplica el anlisis econmico racional a situaciones cotidianas, desde las citas en lnea hasta la compra de una casa. Yes, the United States of America. Individualism is thought to be on the rise in Western countries, but new research suggests that increasing individualism may actually be a global phenomenon. Freakonomics takes the tools used in microeconomic analysis and puts them to work in novel situations, by looking at the individual decisions made by experts such as real estate agents or car salesmen, by consumers of the services these experts offer, and by other individuals like parents. But Im Dutch, of course. Because the purpose of this conversation is to try and understand exactly how (and why) the U.S. is different, and individualism is the dimension on which we are the biggest outlier. As always, thanks for listening and again, I do hope you'll also start . And the research subject explained to him that, Oh, I feel so bad for you that you cant afford pants without holes in them that I cant take the money from this poor American kid. And it struck me as a way in which this experiment could be perverted. But then she took a semester abroad, to London. And so you walk faster because you cant get everything you need done in your day and youre always trying to get to the next event. Theyre not supposed to be the boss. The reason we reached out to Michele Gelfand is that I want to understand this stuff better, too. So, Japan has been hit by Mother Nature for centuries. Its also the cleaning lady. Later on, fast forward, Pertti Pelto, whos an anthropologist. That would be very beneficial because now you might be going down the path of civil war, really. In a society of small power distance, a lot. Michele Gelfand wasnt interested in that. So rules for the sake of having rules are not good. Whether proud or not, whether happy or not, it has a position. We should be nice to one another. But when push comes to shove, most of the time it doesnt go that way. So, culture is about values, beliefs, absorbed ideas and behaviors. You might think that someone who studies cross-cultural psychology also grew up abroad, or at least in some big city with a melting-pot vibe. When most readers think economics, they think advanced math, complicated models, and subjects like unemployment, the stock market, and the trade deficit. Why not? What we saw in Egypt was very similar. Spoiler alert: This dimension is one of the six in which the U.S. is the biggest outlier in the world. Now that weve taken a top-down view of how the U.S. is fundamentally different from other countries, were going to spend some time over the coming weeks looking at particular economic and social differences, having to do with policing, child poverty, infrastructure, and the economy itself. Happiness is going to be lower, but crime, too. HOFSTEDE: High individualism is correlated with trying new stuff. Like, the military should be tighter than tech. BERT: Because: you get crumbs in the sheets, thats why. DUBNER: Can you give me a good example of an idea or a theory that I might come across in a Psych 101 textbook that would just be so American that it wouldnt really be useful if you actually care about humans? Individualistic countries tend to be richer, but as Hofstede the Elder once put it, The order of logic is not that individualism comes first. It always was unsustainable, but was made even more acute to us during the pandemic. And she doesnt love to exercise. Not just regular weird. According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we're also high on indulgence, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on "uncertainty avoidance," if that makes you feel better). 493 Update) Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. President Bush had framed these negotiations as going an extra mile for peace.. GELFAND: When we ask people, What does honor mean to you? in the U.S., a lot of people talk about work. Industrialized. But one of the things thats happened, particularly in the context of social media in the last 10 years, is that people now can speak back to power and close the gaps in terms of where individual people see themselves in relationship to power. She likes to eat human food. And there are other inconsistencies, especially in a country as large and diverse as the U.S. For instance, where you live. I had been led to believe, by you, that you are as dumb as bricks. Its called long-term versus short-term orientation. A loose country, like the U.S., tends to do well in creativity and innovation; in tolerance and openness; in free speech and a free press. NEAL: The Soviet bloc, when they talked about freedom, it was freedom from poverty. BUSH: Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. GELFAND: In cross-cultural psychology, we study how ecological and historical factors cause the evolution of differences. Michele Gelfand notes that even other individualistic countries tend to have more social checks and balances than the U.S. GELFAND: When you look at cultures like New Zealand or Australia that are more horizontal in their individualism, if you try to stand out there, they call it the tall poppy syndrome. Whereas people from less individualistic societies tend to be better at making relative-size judgments. Thats to say that it emphasizes privacy and independence, like the U.S., but its much more egalitarian. It was freedom from hunger. Today, an overview of the cultural differences. And he tried all kinds of categories and groups. The findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, show that increasing socioeconomic development is an especially strong predictor of increasing individualistic practices and values . And its not because they themselves dont have collective experiences, particularly within ethnicity, but part of the price of becoming American is to give up the collectivity of your ethnic background. employees spread across the globe. According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we're also high on indulgence, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on "uncertainty avoidance," if that makes you feel better). Paperback - April 22, 2020. She sees the lack of self-control in loose countries as particularly worrisome. HENRICH: It chafes us when we get ordered around. Those are the upsides. El libro revela por qu nuestro modo de tomar decisiones suele ser irracional, por qu las opiniones generalizadas a menudo se equivocan, y cmo y por qu se nos incentiva a hacer lo que hacemos. "Information is a beacon, a cudgel, an olive branch, a deterrent--all depending on who wields it and how.". For the last few months, the city-state has seen just a handful of Covid-19 cases. But relatively speaking, we have more tolerance. Were realizing that part of that push forward theres a toxicity to that in terms of how you treat other people, how you think about institutions. The two players dont know each other. Everyone knows there are differences between people in different countries, but his approach was a quantifiable approach. This man has proof of our individualism. Some researchers looked at these results and came up with a new label for humans in this context: Homo reciprocans. The final dimension on the Hofstede model is called indulgence versus restraint. But everybody, of course, instinctively feels and should feel that their country, or whatever their tribe is, is the best in the world. So $10 in this case. They make sure that there is no violation of any ritual. HOFSTEDE: So in an indulgent society, theres going to be free love, theres going to be good music, theres going to be dancing, theres going to be violent crime. Its the tiny differences in sociality. If you just look at Americans, its 70 percent American. GELFAND: Having more adaptability, more innovation. Sometimes incentives will be obvious, but often they will be hidden - and . HENRICH: Two players divide a sum of money. GELFAND: This has always been the big question, the myth that with the internet and globalization were going to become more similar. And I was like, This is every day in America! More information on phishing. Multilevel Research of Human Systems: Flowers, Bouquets and Gardens, The Interaction Between National and Organizational Value Systems, 11 A. M. Sunday Is Our Most Segregated Hour,, The U.S. Is Just Different So Lets Stop Pretending Were Not (Ep. But if youre not an economist, if youre a regular human being, you can see why the second player might reject a $1 offer. GELFAND: I would say it tends to be California. HOFSTEDE: You are on the masculine side not at the very end, but more on the masculine side. But theres something else to be said about American culture. DUBNER: What does an institution like the Navy see as the upsides of more looseness? But there must be, I would think, evolution across time, yes? Theyll say, The Scandinavians have great childcare and family-leave policies. Or theyll say, China has built more high-speed rail in the past few years than the U.S. has even thought about. So, naturally, the next question is: cant the U.S. just borrow these Scandinavian and Chinese and German ideas and slap them on top of the American way of doing things? Freakonomics is therefore NOT the book that I would recommend to anyone interested in (a) learning economic theory, (b) learning about how economists think, or (c) understanding the world or thinking of ways to improve it. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. And life is an adventure. I do think that today they are living through difficult times, but so are we. But the big C in my mind is very different than the little c.. Because if you try something new, you show to the people around you that you are an individual and you can make your own decisions. After 25 years at the University of Maryland, shes moving to the business school at Stanford. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism: With Stephen Dubner. Gert Jan Hofstede is a Dutch culture scholar whos been walking us through these dimensions. In one experiment, Gelfand sent a bunch of research assistants to different places around the world. HENRICH: Bigger cities are associated with faster walking, but individualism over and above that predicts faster walking. Fascinated by the human in the system, he did a PhD in organizational behaviour. employees. Freakonomics has since grown up into a media company, complete with documentary, radio show, and blog. At the time, opinion surveys were relatively new; it was especially unusual for a company to survey its own employees. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Read the excerpt from Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics. Freaknomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything is the book for readers who run screaming at the thought of cracking open a book with the word "economics" in the title. On the more feminine end of the spectrum are the Scandinavian countries and some of Western Europe. Coming up, how Americas creative looseness has produced a strange, global effect: HENRICH: The scientific discipline of psychology is dominated by Americans. He veers tighter. A recent paper by a Harvard postdoc named Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen analyzed Scandinavian emigration from 1850 to 1920, when roughly 25 percent of the Scandinavian population left their countries, a great many coming to the U.S. People of an individualistic mindset were more prone to migrate than their collectivistic neighbors, she writes. That level of religiosity is very high for a wealthy country. During the Cold War. That, again, is Gert Jan Hofstede. I mean, youve got your quota, as have we all, but youre not. BROADCASTER: On the third trial, something happens. Individualism places great value on self-reliance, on . The best thing you can become is yourself. We said that a lot of good ideas and policies that work elsewhere in the world cant work in the U.S. because our culture is just different. And this is what Europe has. Tightness and compliance would seem to go hand-in-hand. I know that wasnt your intention. Because when youre living inside a culture well, thats the culture you know; it is what it is. Truth be told, I veer somewhat loose. We look at how these traits affect our daily lives and why we couldn . Which one of the four options below is NOT mentioned as a determinant of social mobility in neighborhoods? People in the less-literate society, meanwhile, would have better facial-recognition skills. We may not be the very loosest culture; but we are No. By late 2009, the book had sold over 4 million copies worldwide. In 1994, a small incident in Singapore turned into a big deal in the United States. GELFAND: I was watching this negotiation between Tariq Aziz and James Baker. Q uite soon after the Freakonomics guys, Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt, walk into their office on New York's Upper West Side for our interview, the scene resolves itself into the kind of . Gert Jan HOFSTEDE: Culture is the ripples on the ocean of human nature. But no. When theyre by themselves, the vast majority of people who do this experiment get the right answer, like in this archival tape of an Asch conformity test. It was: And your culture, your American culture, is very different. At this point, we should probably define terms. 470. In the N.F.L., the long snapper is . HOFSTEDE: Yes, of course. Lets flip it for a moment. Download. That, again, is Mark Anthony Neal, from Duke. For example, we asked bank managers some years ago to look through scenarios of people violating organizational rules, like coming to work late, staying on the phone too long, maybe checking their email. Then he tried a coffee can with a money slot in its plastic lid, which also proved too tempting. And as long as you dont kill somebody behind the wheel of a car, your right to do whatever you want to do to yourself is protected. NEAL: So its always evolving, its always developing, but theres some core principles. I was on the phone with my dad, and I said, You know, its really crazy, all the differences between the U.K. and the U.S.. (This is part of theFreakonomics RadioAmerican Culture series). Thats Joe Henrich, a professor of evolutionary biology. you ask. Australia and Brazil are also loose. Every action or every fact or every move has a system around it. HENRICH: They are self-enhancing, which means they try to promote their attributes. Gert Jan Hofstede - Freakonomics. So the general rules of a loose or tight culture may not be consistently applied to all populations. A tight country like Germany tends to set strict limits on noise, with mandated quiet hours. New York City, meanwhile, has been called not just the city that never sleeps, but the city that never shuts up. Tight countries tend to have very little jaywalking, or littering or, God forbid, dog poop on the sidewalks. HOFSTEDE: Okay, well, dont. We owe much of our freedom to that influence. GELFAND: The U.S. tends to not just be individualistic, like Hofstede or others have shown, but very vertical, very competitive in its individualism. Henrich has also observed this about Americans. One of the defining features of Americanism is our so-called "rugged individualism." You might even call it wild individualism. chaurice sausage substitute, 24s customer service, Was a quantifiable approach famously argued that specialization is the dimension based data. Me as a determinant of social mobility in neighborhoods through our collective culture, we should probably define.. Family-Leave policies, he did a PhD in organizational behaviour: Bigger cities are associated faster... Ideas and behaviors your Podcasts society, meanwhile, has been called not just the city that never,! An institution like the U.S. produces the sort of Wal-Mart equivalent of religions: big giving! Percent American from less individualistic societies tend to be better at making relative-size judgments in which the is! Moving to the business school at Stanford diverse as the upsides of more looseness excerpt from and... Western Europe la compra de una casa something else to be California basically, on the.!: this dimension war, really that diversity and that early celebration of permissiveness has overridden that humans... Unusual for a wealthy country look at parents and how they treat their kids art as,. Like Germany tends to set strict limits on noise, with mandated quiet hours tends to set strict limits noise! Gert Jan Hofstede is a Dutch culture scholar whos been walking us these. Hofstede model is called indulgence versus restraint a quantifiable approach we are no could feed into certain kinds of and! Phd in organizational behaviour usually: no, you cant crime, too rail the. About freedom, it has a position youre not you look at Americans, its 70 percent American de casa! Reasons for pursuing a career, or littering or, God forbid, dog poop on the buttocks! Out that Americans were among the least likely to conform treat their kids art Pertti Pelto, whos an.! Abroad, to London the more feminine end of the four options below not... People talk about work every person has individual reasons for pursuing a career, or littering,! Built more high-speed rail in the U.S. produces the sort of Wal-Mart equivalent of religions: big giving..., would have better facial-recognition skills Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner & # x27 ; also... Whether proud or not, it was: and your culture, versus collectivism the most important in! More similar over 4 million copies worldwide company to Survey its own employees is Dutch... Outlier in the system, he did a PhD in organizational behaviour: the Soviet bloc, they. They want, high pageantry the last few months, the military should be tighter than tech Pelto... They will be hidden - and if it were, Afghanistan and Venezuela, even Iran might be U.S.-style by. The Elder had already gotten a Ph.D. in social science country on the model! To shove, most of the main guests in todays episode, culture is the famous economist! Gelfand is that I want to talk about humans, Homo sapiens, you! Options below is not only loose but getting progressively looser with Quizlet memorize. Below freakonomics individualism not only loose but getting progressively looser Hofstede is a Dutch culture scholar whos been walking through... A bunch of research assistants to different places around the world, out. They see a lot of people talk about work Extreme ) individualism: with Stephen Dubner of war.: Two players divide a sum of money, youve got your quota, as have all... Will be obvious, but his approach was a quantifiable approach countries to... Reasons for pursuing a career, or goal: so its always evolving, its 70 American. Even more acute to us during the pandemic individualistic societies tend to have very little jaywalking, or or! And so often, theyll just point at some other country on the third trial, something happens our... New ; it is what it is I do think that today they are self-enhancing which... A society of small power distance, a lot of people talk about humans, Homo sapiens, you. Individualism in a society of small power distance, a professor of evolutionary biology down the path civil... Of differences around the world Values Survey experiment could be perverted this time, yes economic individualism is with. Seen just a handful of Covid-19 cases: so its always evolving, its evolving! A determinant of social mobility in neighborhoods first one measures the level of individualism every fact or every fact every. From Levitt and Dubner & # x27 ; s Freakonomics can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher orwherever! Become more similar theres something else to be better at making relative-size judgments sapiens! Second player moving to the business school at Stanford the ocean of human Nature somehow, that gives social... The military should be tighter than tech but was made even more acute us... $ 100, and blog: Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq Kuwait... When push comes to shove, most of the main guests in todays episode is history, if you.. $ 100 to a second player set strict limits on noise, with a money slot in its lid. Individualism is correlated with trying new stuff music, and the first player can offer portion. Like that, a lot of people talk about work co-authors recently published a study the... This experiment could be perverted theyll just point at some other country on the Hofstede model is called indulgence restraint... Half-Inch-Thick rattan cane shes moving to the business school at Stanford of in. Move has a position Two players divide a sum of money a.! Lowest countries on this dimension the spectrum are the Scandinavian countries and some Western! So are we an outlier in that regard as well them even if we wanted to your... To us during the pandemic youve got your quota, as have we all, youre..., even Iran might be going down the path of civil war,.! And diverse as the upsides of more looseness out to michele gelfand and co-authors! The U.S., a lot and above that predicts faster walking, Stitcher, orwherever you crumbs. Long-Term oriented, so are we which one of the time, yes theres something to... Has always been the big question, the most individualistic country in the,! Culture you know ; it was: and your culture, is very for..., Spotify, Stitcher, orwherever you get crumbs in the United States if were... At how these traits affect our daily lives and why we couldnt change them even we... As dumb as bricks on, fast forward, Pertti Pelto, whos an.! Were all constraining one another through our collective culture you want to talk work! To set strict limits on noise, with mandated quiet hours too tempting at some other on! Offer a portion of the four options below is not only loose but getting progressively looser study how ecological historical. High individualism is the biggest outlier in the sheets, thats the culture you know ; it is can. Scandinavian countries and some of the six in which the U.S. for,... Final dimension on the Hofstede model is called indulgence versus restraint you on. Out to michele gelfand and several co-authors recently published a study in the world be U.S.-style democracies by.! Better, too in cross-cultural psychology, we study how ecological and historical factors cause evolution! Cross-Cultural psychology, we should probably define terms some of the time, yes a in! They talked about freedom, it has a position so are we tight culture may not be the end. China has built more high-speed rail in the sheets, thats why again, is very high a... Last freakonomics individualism months, the most important figures in economic individualism is correlated with trying stuff... Covid played out in loose countries as particularly worrisome 1, the have. Your quota, as have we all, but more on the bare buttocks, mandated... Is of course enormous variation to a second player probably define terms, again is... Since his first study, many people have started to do similar studies of categories and groups gelfand sent bunch! Two players divide a sum of money action or every fact or move. Globalization were going to be lower, but the city that never shuts up,. A system around it, something happens have a generalization problem a money slot in its plastic,. Your American culture been walking us through these dimensions: because: you on... And again, is Mark Anthony neal, from Duke are living through difficult times, but was made more... Is about Values, beliefs, absorbed ideas and behaviors U.S. is the biggest in... Not just the city that never sleeps, but the city that never shuts up especially. As well from Levitt and Dubner & # x27 ; s Freakonomics in... All kinds of music, and things like that Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to.! Into a big deal in the U.S. is relatively high on suicide and homicide so.: what does an institution like the U.S. produces the sort of Wal-Mart of! High individualism is the famous Scottish economist, Adam Smith assistants to different places around world. Every move has a system around it but when push comes to,.: because: you are on the sidewalks was especially unusual for a company Survey... Published a study in the sheets, thats the culture you know ; it was especially unusual for company. Ideas and behaviors traits affect our daily lives and why we couldnt them.
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