by Reverend Tom Capo
Michele Gelfand, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, wrote: “my research has shown that some groups have much stronger norms than others; they’re tight. Others have much weaker norms; they’re loose…[tighter cultures have generally experienced] a lot of threat—whether it is a high level of natural disasters, famine, and resource scarcity…It makes sense, cultures that have (a real or perceived) threat need rules to coordinate to survive… But cultures that don’t have a lot of threat can afford to be more permissive and loose.” We live in many cultures – USA culture, Miami culture, our church culture. Reverend Tom will explore the cultures we live in, how loose or tight they are, and how that looseness or tightness impacts our relationships.
