In cross-cultural negotiations, we often feel uncertain about how to act and confused by one another’s statements and behavior. The potential for misunderstandings and conflict is often high as a result. In her book Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World, University of Maryland psychologist Michele Gelfand presents a simple yet powerful cultural framework that can help us make sense of our differences, get along better, and achieve more at the bargaining table.
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The Tight-Loose Divide
Gelfand has identified a difference that can be applied to virtually all cultures throughout human history: their relative tightness or looseness, as reflected in the strength of their social norms. The “invisible glue” that holds cultures together, social norms are the behaviors a culture deems acceptable, from whether it’s OK to be late for meetings to which drugs can be legally consumed.
Although all cultures have social norms, the relative “tightness” of these norms—and the sanctions people face for breaking them—varies widely across cultures, Gelfand and her colleagues found in a survey of people from more than 30 countries. In relatively “tight” cultures such as Japan, India, and Turkey, people face strict norms regarding everything from littering to punctuality. In “loose” nations such as the United States, Brazil, and the Netherlands, a broader range of behavior is deemed socially acceptable. Although countries can be found on all points of the tight-loose continuum, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Nordic and Germanic European nations tend to be tighter, while English-speaking, Latin, and Eastern European cultures are often looser.
The relative tightness of one’s home culture affects our thoughts and behaviors, including our negotiating style. Speaking broadly, people from the tightest cultures tend to be rule followers. On average, they are more punctual, self-controlled, and disciplined than people from loose cultures. They tend to be less open to new ideas and outsiders, and less comfortable with change. By comparison, people from loose cultures are more likely to break (or at least question) the rules. This can lead them to take ethical shortcuts, but it can also make them more creative, open, and receptive to outsiders.
Why do cultures evolve to become tight or loose? When a nation faces extreme threats to its existence, such as natural disasters, invasions, and disease outbreaks, it seeks to “create order in the face of chaos” by strengthening rules, laws, and sanctions for noncompliance, Gelfand has found. Countries often “tighten up” security following terrorist attacks, for instance. By contrast, nations that face fewer external threats have the luxury of remaining loose—more open, less organized.
Beyond nations, the tightness-looseness divide applies to virtually all cultures. For example, members of creative fields, including artists and entrepreneurs, tend to exhibit looser mindsets and behaviors than those who work in fields in which disorder would pose a significant threat, such as manufacturing or banking.
Toward More Successful Cross-Cultural Negotiations
The following three guidelines will help you apply findings from tight-loose theory and reach better results to cross-cultural negotiations of all types.
1. Improve your cultural empathy. Analyzing whether each party comes from tight or loose cultures will help you anticipate areas where you might complement one another or clash in cross-cultural negotiations. At the bargaining table, many tight-loose traits, such as willingness to trust, punctuality, and creativity, may emerge. Keep an eye out for these differences, and strive for “cultural empathy.” There are compelling reasons why cultures evolved the way they have, reasons that can help you better understand perplexing behavior in business negotiations.
2. Look beyond nationality. Remember that a negotiator’s home country is just one culture to which they belongs. Other cultures that may influence negotiating behavior may include the person’s region, town, profession, and social class. Imagine an entrepreneur from a tight country who is creative but evasive, or a military officer from a loose country who is meticulous about following protocol but open and gregarious. Gain insights into your fellow negotiators by thinking broadly about the various groups they represent.
3. Adapt to the other side’s social norms. When we understand the logic behind behaviors that might otherwise seem foreign and frustrating, we become more collaborative and effective in cross-cultural negotiations. For example, Gelfand’s research shows that Americans tend to be more impatient than negotiators from some Middle Eastern and Asian nations. This cultural difference makes sense when viewed through the tight-loose lens. Negotiators from tight cultures that have weak legal institutions may be warier of new negotiating partners and need more time to build rapport and trust. By contrast, citizens of the relatively loose United States may be quicker to trust, as they may assume courts will protect them if their trust is violated.
This type of cultural insight can improve our awareness of our counterparts and of ourselves—including our flaws. For example, the more impatient U.S. negotiators are, the worse their financial outcomes, Gelfand has found. When Americans adapt to the slower pace of counterparts from tighter cultures, they are likely to make fewer concessions, while also building stronger relationships with their counterparts. That’s a win-win solution in any language.
Have tight-loose differences played out in your cross-cultural negotiations?
Claim your FREE copy: International Negotiations
Claim your copy of International Negotiations: Cross-Cultural Communication Skills for International Business Executives from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
super insightful information about negotiation tactics