Wisconsin near the middle of ‘tight’ and ‘loose’ America A paper published by University of Maryland psychologists proposed that the 50 states can be divided into "tight" and "loose" social structures, determined by an average of several demographic data sets. The paper assigned each state a "tightness-looseness" score; the lower the score, the looser the state. Wisconsin ranked at 30, just a little on the loose end. Programming by Erin Caughey of the Journal Sentinel staff. Tightest Tighter Moderate Looser Loosest

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Wisconsin: Not uptight, but not too loose.

That's an academia-approved motto we can adopt thanks to a recently published paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,which presents the so-called "tightness-looseness" theory for differences in American culture.

Two psychologists at the University of Maryland analyzed cultural differences among the 50 states by aligning them on a spectrum of "tight" and "loose," determined by data on drug use, religious beliefs, population trends and several other demographics.

Tight states, according the paper, "have many strongly enforced rules and little tolerance for deviance." Loose states, meanwhile, are more lax on traditions and punishments. They also tend to have happier, more creative citizens.

Wisconsin ended up right near the middle, with a score that put it at 30 out of 50. That raises the old existential quandary: Is the state half tight or half loose?

Turns out we lean a little on the loose side.

The loosest states were assigned the lowest rankings, meaning that Wisconsin cracked the more relaxed half of the United States, making it a looser place than sunny Florida or tiny Delaware.

Wisconsin's rank also makes it the second-loosest state in the Midwest, slightly tighter than Illinois. Most of our Midwest neighbors are in the top half, with Missouri, at number 13, earning the distinction as the region's tightest state.

Jesse Harrington, a doctoral student who co-authored the paper, discussed Wisconsin's loosest and tightest traits.

1. Loose: Our execution rate — what execution rate?

Since tight states stick to strict social conduct, they're also quick to punish people who break from the norm in their courts, schools and prisons, Harrington said.

That's especially true for the ultimate punishment: the death penalty.

"When you have a state that punishes deviants so severely, that's definitely going to push it to the tight side," Harrington said.

In that regard, Wisconsin proved to be a state that prefers permissiveness over punishment because it no longer has the death penalty.

Wisconsin has had exactly one death sentence in its history: A killer named John McCaffary was hanged in front of 3,000 spectators in 1851, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that tracks executions throughout the country. The state abolished the death penalty for good two years later.

That's a long legacy of being relatively loose on even the toughest criminals — at least compared to, say, Texas, America's execution capital and, unsurprisingly, its sixth-tightest state.

2. Loose: A very wet Wisconsin

This is one factor that we didn't need a research team to sort out: Wisconsin likes to drink.

That puts it with the majority of "wet" states that have no alcohol bans, according to a BBC report used in this study. Loose states usually have higher rates of drug use and drinking, and for the latter, Wisconsin was way ahead of the pack.

Wisconsin, of course, is not your average drinking state, and not just because of its brewing heritage. State researchers note that Wisconsin exceeds the national average in heavy drinking, binge drinking and drinking in high schools. (The Journal Sentinel's Wasted In Wisconsin series detailed the dark side of the state's drinking culture.)

For better or worse,the study considered this as a measure that shows Wisconsin knows how to let loose.

Meanwhile, almost every "dry" state — ones with alcohol restrictions, such as Texas and Arkansas — topped the tight half.

"I know a few friends from Wisconsin, and they told me a bit about the drinking culture there," Harrington said. "Apparently, people tend to drink quite a lot."

3. Tight: Fledgling foreign population

Loose states are the most tolerant of ethnic and cultural diversity, but that also means they have a considerably diverse populace in the first place, Harrington said. This is one point where Wisconsin barely made a mark.

According to U.S. census data consulted in the study, foreign-born citizens make up only 4% of Wisconsin's population, totaling about 200,000 people. Compare that to California or New York, both on the loose side, which are almost one-quarter foreign.

Wisconsin "was very average in that regard," Harrington said. "There wasn't any kind of significant foreign population to indicate that it is high on openness."

Maybe this is just another Midwest thing: Every other state in the region shared a single-digit foreign percentage, except for Illinois.

Sure, the study relied on decade-old data, but little has changed: The most recent population estimates show that Wisconsin's foreign-born population has barely budged and is now at 4.6%.

4. Tight: Gay marriage (for now)

The researchers determined that tight states tend to restrict or outright ban same-sex marriage, while the loose states let it happen.

In the study, Wisconsin was counted among the harshest states on gay marriage, since it is one of 30 states with a constitutional ban.

That was the case since 2006, but as of last month, Wisconsin might be loosening up a bit, with a federal district judge overturning the constitutional ban. Then again, same-sex weddings are still on hold as Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen appeal the June ruling.

Had these recent events been considered in the study, Wisconsin might have been looser.

"This could have helped pull the state ahead by a few spaces," Harrington said. "It would show that the state is a more tolerable social space."

It is worth noting that the tightness-looseness scale has some correlation to the electoral map from the 2012 presidential election — that is, tight states tend to be red and loose states tend to be blue. However, Harrington pointed out that the study was a broad overview of statewide trends, and did not account "for all the variations you'd find on a local level."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's recent Dividing Lines series showed that Wisconsin might be the most politically polarized state in America. But let's put politics aside for a moment — could our middle-ish ranking in this study mean that the Badger State is actually a battleground of the tight vs. the loose?