Are you tight or loose?

We all have friends or acquaintances who are less attentive to social norms, more willing to take risks, more impulsive, and more comfortable with disorder and ambiguity. We can call this loose — and vice-versa, there are people who always follow social norms, control their emotions, and avoid taking too many risks — in other words, more “tight”.

I always saw myself as very loose regarding social norms, disorder, ambiguity, and taking risks. But much more tight and disciplined regarding my work schedule and workouts. I have been influenced by tight and loose cultures throughout. By growing up in Mexico City and NYC.

Recently I discovered Michele Gelfand who has spent two decades studying both tight societies (with clearly stated rules and codes of ethics) and loose societies (more informal communities with weak or ambiguous norms) — more importantly, she created this mindset quiz which you can see where in the spectrum you lie from very loose to very tight . I came out as Very Loose. Take the quiz here https://www.michelegelfand.com/tl-quiz

The big question for me is. What areas should we as individuals loosen up our mindset, and which ones need to be tighter? Now, regarding groups, communities, and nations. Which mix of mindsets is more conducive to a better standard of living, access to opportunities, and happier states of mind?

It’s a hard question to answer of course, and it’s all based on the context and specific situation. But a great start would be to know which mindset we have a tendency to be in and the people who surround us.

Are you very tight or very loose? Take the quiz and let me know in the comments.