Across the millennia, human groups have evolved specific cultural and psychological adaptations to cope with collective threats, from terrorism to natural disasters to pathogens. In particular, research has identified cultural tightness, characterized by strict social norms and punishments, as one key adaptation that helps groups coordinate to survive collective threats. However, interferences with threat signals that facilitate tightening can lead to cultural mismatches—either too much or not enough tightening. I discuss two examples of cultural mismatches: the COVID-19 pandemic (a case in which collective threat is real, but there is a resistance to tightening) and the rise of populist movements (a case in which exaggerated threat leads to unnecessary tightening).

几千年来，人类群体已经进化出特定的文化和心理适应来应对集体威胁，从恐怖主义到自然灾害再到病原体。特别是，研究已经确定以严格的社会规范和惩罚为特征的文化紧密性，是一种关键的适应，可以帮助群体协调以应对集体威胁。然而，对促进收紧的威胁信号的干扰可能导致文化不匹配——收紧过多或不够。我讨论了文化不匹配的两个例子：COVID-19 大流行（这种情况下，集体威胁是真实的，但对收紧措施有阻力）和民粹主义运动的兴起（这种情况下，夸大的威胁导致不必要的收紧）。