In his piece "Of War And Kisses: How Adversity Shapes Culture", Richard Harris discusses a study that distinguishes national cultures between "tight" and "loose" while seeking to understand the factors behind those differences:
Countries tend to have personalities just like people do. Researchers have set out to define those differences, using a scale that measures how tight the social rules and standards are. They find that cultural rules — as simple as when and where it's appropriate to kiss — are often shaped by a nation's experience with war, disease and other challenges.
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