https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211043385 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 1–15 © 2021 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/01461672211043385 journals.sagepub.com/home/pspb Empirical Research Paper What are the impacts of political crises on culturally salient behaviors? Cultural behaviors displayed by individuals are thought to be products of a larger stable cultural system that is transmitted over generations. Some theorists have argued that current cultural differences are the result of century- or even millennia-long processes (Hofstede, 2001), which points to longer evolutionary dynamics associated with the evolution of large-scale civilizations (Boyd & Richerson, 1988; Turchin, 2015). As a consequence, political instabili- ties, short of a system-collapse, may not be expected to find reflections in the behavior of individuals. At the same time, cultural systems need to be dynamic, to respond to changing social, economic, and ecological conditions at relatively short notice. Such internal politics and negotiations of social hierarchies and alliances in turn may lead to instabilities in the larger cultural system over longer periods (Cohen, 2001; Turchin, 2016). Power struggles at a political level within a society may create sociocultural dynamics, which shift behaviors and lead to new emerging equilibria, especially if these cultural characteristics play a role in the larger political process. Here, we are aiming to provide first responses to these overarching questions on cultural stability versus change by reporting longitudinal data covering responses of individuals over a 3-year period that is marked by political upheaval and power struggles within the larger democratic system. Our focus is on culturally salient behavior syndromes that have been extensively studied in anthropology and increas- ingly in cultural psychology. Specifically, we are focusing on Brazilian jeitinho (pronounced jay-tchee-nyoo, can be trans- lated as the “Brazilian little way”) which is described as a “special way to solve a problem, or a difficult or prohibited situation . . . [that involves] finding a creative solution for dealing with emergencies, whether in the form of concilia- tion, cunningness, or skill” (Barbosa, 2006, p. 41). Jeitinho is a characteristic behavioral trademark of Brazilian culture which is thought to have emerged as a flexible problem-solv- ing behavior in a highly hierarchical and bureaucratic system and which has received attention from Brazilian and interna- tional scholars and commentators (Almeida, 2007; Amado & 1043385PSP XX X 10.1177/01461672211043385Personality and Social Psychology BulletinFischer et al. research-article 2021 1 Institute D’Or for Research & Teaching, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand 3 University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil Corresponding Author: Ronald Fischer, Institute D’Or for Research & Teaching, Rua Diniz Cordeiro, 30, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22281-100, Brazil. Emails: ronald.fischer@idor.org; ronald.fischer@vuw.ac.nz Cultural Syndromes in a Changing World: A Longitudinal Investigation of Brazilian Jeitinho Social Problem-Solving Strategies Ronald Fischer 1,2 , Johannes Alfons Karl 2 , and Ronaldo Pilati 3 Abstract We report a longitudinal study of Jeitinho brasileiro (salient cultural characteristic of Brazil) during a period of significant political instability. Previous historical and anthropological sources have pointed to the importance of political instability for cultural changes in behaviors such as jeitinho. We are the first to examine possible individual-level dynamics over time, reporting a 3-year longitudinal study (N = 205) of two dimensions that differentiate keeping a socially pleasant social climate (simpatia) from trickery and breaking social norms. Using longitudinal network analysis, we found (a) reinforcing links between behavioral nodes within each of these two jeitinho clusters over time, (b) few between-cluster links, (c) within- person and between-person components were distinct, and (d) only the between-person structure resembled the overall factor structure. Overall, our data show that cultural behaviors are systematically changing during a political crisis, offering first insights how cultural systems may change via shifts in individual behavior. Keywords jeitinho brasileiro, cultural syndromes, social influence strategies, network analysis, corruption, longitudinal, political crisis Received December 23, 2020; revision accepted August 12, 2021