Culture and National well-being: should societies emphasize freedom or constraint?

PLoS ONE • Vol/Iss. 10(6) • Public Library of Science • • Published In • Pages: 1-14 •
By Harrington, Jesse R., Boski, Pawel, Gelfand, Michele K.

Hypothesis

The relationship between tightness/looseness and life expectancy will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness

Note

Life expectancy was found to be lower in both very tight and very loose nations. Additionally, compared to the linear model (F=.46, p=.50, R-Squared=.02), the quadratic model was a significant improvement (F-change=22.04, p<.001, R-Squared change=.42).

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Stepwise multiple regressionSupportedp<.001R-Squared=.44UNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Tightness/loosenessIndependentNorms, Social Control, Government Regulation, Legal Norms
Life ExpectancyDependentMortality

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and happiness will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and dysthymia depression will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness
Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and suicide rate will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness
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Harrington, Jesse R.The relationship between tightness/looseness and political instability will exhibit a curvilinear relationship, such that very tight and very loose nations have worse outcomes relative to nations intermediate on tightness-looseness