RULE MAKERS, RULE BREAKERS
“A delightful, insightful, and fascinating look at the remarkable diversity of human customs—where they come from and how they shape our lives.”
—Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness
“Brilliant . . . Full of well-documented insights that will change the way you look at yourself and at the world around you.”
—Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, Practical Wisdom (with Kenneth Sharpe), and Why We Work
“A particularly timely analysis for our current Age of Anxiety and uncertainty, where people and nations no longer feel confident in what the next generation and near future will bring.”
—Scott Atran, cofounder of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at Oxford University
“Gelfand has done much to unravel the mysteries of human motivation.”
—Robert Cialdini, author of Influence and Pre-Suasion
“Fascinating and illuminating . . . We all build order into our days, but as Gelfand shows, some of us like hewing to a line, and others enjoy crossing it.”
—Jonah Berger, author of Contagious and Invisible Influence
“Smart, provocative, and very entertaining . . . Gelfand argues that the tendency to devise and abide by rules, or, alternatively, push behavioral limits, is the fundamental distinction between human societies.”
—Paul Bloom, professor of psychology, Yale University, and author of Against Empathy
“A valuable lens for decoding the nature of our cultural conflicts and an intriguing new tool for solving them.”
—Colin Woodard, winner of a George Polk Award, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of American Nations
“In this tour de force, psychologist Michele Gelfand takes us on a fascinating cross-cultural adventure. . . . Tightness-looseness explains everything from how you cross the street to how you cross over from the living. Never a dull moment in this enthusiastic journey.”
—Susan T. Fiske, professor of psychology and public affairs, Princeton University, and coauthor of The Human Brand
“Dazzling . . . When people don’t abide by socially expected rules, families, businesses, and whole societies splinter apart. But is there a downside to following the rules too closely? Read Rule Makers, Rule Breakers to find out.”
—Peter Turchin, author of Ultrasociety
“If you’re going to read one book this year to better understand the world’s problems and what can be done to solve them, Gelfand’s masterpiece should be it.”
—Alon Tal, author of The Land Is Full and founder of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense
“A thought-provoking look at the contours of modern tribalism—one that uses a deceptively simple dividing line: the split between ‘tight’ and ‘loose’ cultures and personalities.”
—Dante Chinni, coauthor of Our Patchwork Nation and director of the American Communities Project at George Washington University
“Fantastic . . . Its beauty derives from the breadth of its insight as Gelfand focuses in to illuminate, in succession, countries, states, corporations, groups, and individuals.”
—Michael L. Tushman, coauthor of Winning through Innovation and Lead and Disrupt
“Extremely important . . . Gelfand has identified and explored a hugely significant aspect of culture that accounts for why and when we fall into step with a group or, alternatively, set off on our own path.”
—Richard E. Nisbett, author of The Geography of Thought
“Brilliant . . . Gelfand’s findings, which are backed by massive empirical evidence, go far to explain why the people of different countries have different worldviews.”
—Ronald F. Inglehart, director of the World Values Survey and author of Cultural Evolution
“Everyone should read this book! . . . It is rare that one overarching principle can explain so much, but Michele Gelfand nails it with her brilliant analysis. . . . A fascinating narrative full of entertaining examples.”
—Timothy D. Wilson, author of Redirect
“A must-read book that will fundamentally change the way you look at the world, particularly at our bewildering cultural moment. . . . You will emerge a smarter, broader person, with a deeper, more informed perspective for thinking and talking about the issues that consume us all.”
—Todd Kliman, author of The Wild Vine