East Asians typically prefer social cohesion and harmony, rather than self-expression and individualism. They are ‘culturally tight’. While Latin Americans believe it’s fine to pick and choose your friends, East Asians tend to expect group loyalty.

Why might this be? Let’s explore 4 hypotheses:

Rice

Socio-economic threats

Confucianism

Authoritarianism

For pictures and graphs, see https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/why-are-east-asians-culturally-tight