A Comparative Study of Creative Thinking of American And Japanese College Students

Cross-cultural differences in creative thinking were assessed for 51 American and 54 Japanese college students. The American college students showed statistically significantly higher scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) figural test than the Japanese college students. No gender differences were found in either culture. Performance on the TTCT did not correlate with the performance on broad academic aptitude/achievement measures for either culture.     

The mediating role of parental expectations in culture and well-being

In two studies, we examined the role of perceived fulfillment of parental expectations in the subjective well-being of college students. In Study 1, we found that American college students reported having higher levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem than did Japanese college students. American college students also reported having fulfilled parental expectations to a greater degree than did Japanese college students. Most importantly, the cultural difference in well-being was mediated by perceived fulfillment of parental expectations. In Study 2, we replicated the mediational finding with Asian American and European American college students. Asian American participants also perceived their parents' expectations about their academic performance to be more specific than did European Americans, which was associated with the cultural difference in perceived fulfillment of parental expectations. In short, perceived parental expectations play an important role in the cultural difference in the well-being of Asians and European Americans.     

Just Say No: Japanese and American Styles of Refusing Unwanted Sexual Advances1

To determine whether cultural and gender differences in directness of communication are reflected in styles of refusing unwanted sexual advances, we surveyed American college students and Japanese international college students about direct and indirect ways of saying “no” in dating relationships. While both American and Japanese students said they would rather use indirect refusal tactics than direct ones, Americans rated direct strategies as more likely to be effective than did Japanese participants. Further, American students interpreted direct strategies as clearer refusals than indirect strategies, whereas Japanese respondents did not make this distinction. Men and women responded similarly in both cultural groups, so the findings point primarily to possible cultural differences in the meaning of direct refusals of sexual advances.     

The relationship between nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and perceived cognitive learning among Japanese college students

Research in the United States has found a strong and consistent relationship between teacher behavior and learning. Data collected from American college students indicate that perceptions of teacher nonverbal immediacy (NVI) are associated with students' feelings toward learning and perceptions of cognitive learning. The purposes of this study were to accomplish the following: (1) develop standardized Japanese versions of the instruments used to measure teacher nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and perceived cognitive learning (how much students think they have learned); and (2) assess the relationship between NVI, student motivation, and perceptions of cognitive learning among Japanese college students. Results note that Japanese students report (1) a positive relationship between reported levels of teacher NVI and student motivation; (2) a negative relationship between reported levels of teacher NVI and perceived learning loss; and (3) a negative relationship between student motivation (SM) and perceived learning loss (how much students think they did not learn with their teacher compared to an ideal teacher). Further, cross-cultural comparisons between Japanese and American students were conducted. Results from the cross-cultural comparison suggest that the relationships between reported teacher nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and learning loss among Japanese college students are similar to those found among American college students, but the dimensional structure of the questionnaires was different.     

Masculinity and Femininity in Japanese Culture: A Pilot Study

This study examined masculinity and femininityin Japanese culture. Two hundred sixty-five collegestudents (male = 104; female = 161) took the Japaneseversion of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) with pertinent demographic questions. Subjects wereall Japanese and no other races were included. Theresults showed no significant difference betweenJapanese male college students and Japanese femalecollege students on both the Masculinity and Femininityscale of the BSRI. It was also found that both male andfemale Japanese college students scored higher on theFemininity scale than on the Masculinity scale of the BSRI. A confirmatory factor analysisalso supported that Bem's gender role model did not fitthe data collected in Japan. The limitations andimplications of the study are also discussed.     

Flow Experience,Culture, and Well-being: How Do Autotelic Japanese College Students Feel,Behave, and Think in Their Daily Lives?

This study attempted to show how autotelic people who live in a non-Western culture feel, behave, and think in their daily lives. Using a sample of 315 Japanese college students, a series of correlation analyses were conducted between the frequency of flow experience as an indicator of autotelic personality and a broad range of well-being measures. A distribution analysis revealed that on average Japanese college students experienced flow more than a “few times a year,” but less than “once a month.” In the examination of relations between flow and well-being measures, autotelic Japanese college students, or those who experienced flow more often in their daily lives, were more likely to show higher self-esteem and lower anxiety, use active coping strategies more often and use passive coping strategies less often, as compared to their less autotelic counterparts. They were more likely to report active commitments to college life, search for future career, and daily activities in general. They also reported more Jujitsu-kan, a Japanese sense of fulfillment, and greater satisfaction with their lives. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of what experiencing flow means and what effects flow potentially has for college students in a non-Western culture.     

Flow Experience and Autotelic Personality in Japanese College Students: How do they Experience Challenges in Daily Life?

Using the experience sampling method (ESM) and a sample of Japanese college students, the present study conducted two major examinations. First, the present study examined whether flow theory's most basic and general hypothesis, that quality of experience is a function of perceived challenges and skills, was applicable to the Japanese sample. Second, the present study identified autotelic and non-autotelic groups of Japanese college students and explored the nature of autotelic personality, focusing on how perceptions of challenges and skills affected the quality of these two groups' experiences, and how these two groups balanced their perceived challenges and skills when engaged in daily activities. The results showed that high challenge/high skill situations created an optimal state of mind for the Japanese college students, as flow theory postulates. Moreover, a Japanese index of psychological well-being referred to as Jujitsu-kan was reported as being high during periods of flow. The exploratory examination of the autotelic personality showed that the autotelic students' levels of perceived challenges and skills were more balanced than those of their non-autotelic counterparts. Moreover, the autotelic students showed a tendency to position themselves in situations where their perceived challenges were higher than their perceived skills, whereas the reverse was true for the non-autotelic students. Implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the universality of flow experience and autotelic personality, and their potentials to increase psychological well-being for the Japanese, as well as people across cultures.     

Construction and validation of a japanese adaptation of the test anxiety inventory

This study describes the construction and validation of a Japanese adaptation of Spielberger's (1980) Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and presents evidence of the reliability and validity of this new instrument. The items for the Japanese TAI (TAI-J) were selected on the basis of content validity and itemremainder correlations, which were .40 or higher for both sexes. Alpha reliability coefficients for the TAI-J Total scores were .90 or higher for both high school and college students; test-retest stability over a three-week interval was .89. Mean TAI-J Total scores for Japanese high school females were significantly higher than those of Japanese college students, whose scores were slightly lower than those reported for American undergraduates. TAI-J Total scores correlated .72 with a Japanese trait anxiety measure. Significant negative correlations were found between TAI-J Total scores and measures of academic achievement. Implications of these results for the measurement of test anxiety in Japanese students are discussed from a cross-cultural perspective.     

Self-disclosure in romantic relationships and friendships among American and Japanese college students

The author examined whether the level of self-disclosure would differ across four types of relationships--passionate love relationships, companionate love relationships, same-sex friendships, and cross-sex friendships--and across cultures: American culture and Japanese culture. Participants were 145 college students (64 Americans and 81 Japanese). The results supported three hypotheses: (a) Japanese students scored lower in self-disclosure than American students, regardless of relationship types, (b) self-disclosure was higher in same-sex friendships than in cross-sex friendships both among American participants and among Japanese participants, and (c) self-disclosure was higher in romantic relationships than in friendships both among American students and among Japanese students. However, the correlation between self-disclosure and passionate love was not stronger than the correlation between self-disclosure and companionate love. The author discussed the present study's findings and contribution.     

GENDER-ROLE PERSONALITY TRAITS IN JAPANESE CULTURE

The etic (universal) aspect of gender-role personality traits was examined in Japanese culture. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974, 1977) was validated for the Japanese culture and modified for this study. An investigation of the personality traits among 1,227 college students using the Japanese BSRI indicated that male students scored significantly higher on the Masculine scale than the female students, whereas they did not differ from each other on the Feminine scale. It was also found that both female and male students scored significantly higher on the Femininity than on the Masculinity scale.     

The Japanese version of the revised Life Orientation Test: reliability and construct validity

The Japanese translation of the revised Life Orientation Test was completed by 223 Japanese college students. Factor analysis yielded two factors, namely, Optimism and Pessimism. These factor scales showed adequate reliability and construct validity.     

Symptoms of Depression and Psychological Distress in United States and Japanese College Students

Abstract

We compared United States and Japanese university students on self-report measures of depression (Beck Depression Inventory; BDI) and psychological distress (General Weil-Being Scale; GWB). In addition, we reassessed sex differences on these measures for students in the United States and examined sex differences for Japanese students. We found that (a) Japanese students had significantly higher scores than their U.S. counterparts on the BDI but not on the GWB scale and that (b) male and female college students in the U.S. and Japan did not differ in scores on the BDI or the GWB scale.     

Value changes in third generation Japanese Americans

Summary: To compare the acculturation of third generation Japanese Americans with a contemporary Caucasian college student population 275 Japanese Americans (106 males, 169 females), and 346 Caucasian American college students (136 males, 210 females), were given the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, which describes personality in terms of 15 needs. The results indicated that while accuituration has taken place among the Japanese Americans, when their scores are compared with a contemporary Caucasian college sample, the Japanese Americans still express a significantly higher need for order, succorance, and abasement, and a significantly lower need for change and heterosexuality.     

Effects of self-efficacy on adjustment to college

This study examined the effects of self-efficacy on adjustment to college among 1385 Japanese college students. The College Adjustment Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) was constructed in order to evaluate the degree of confidence in the skills necessary for college adjustment. Three subscales were identified in the CASES: judgmental ability based on objective information, self-controlled persistence of activity, and self-adjustment in human relations. There were slight gender differences in the first and the third subscales. The CASES subscale scores were compared between well and poorly adjusted students in each college major. Differences in the score patterns of well adjusted students were compared across 13 college majors. The implications for academic career counseling are discussed.     

Comparing Japanese International College Students' and U.S. College Students' Mental‐Health‐Related Stigmatizing Attitudes

This study examined differences between Japanese international college students and U.S. college students on stigma toward people with psychological disorders, stigma tolerance in help seeking, and self‐concealment. Japanese international students had greater stigma toward individuals with psychological disorders than did their U.S. counterparts. No interrelationships between these variables, however, were found in the Japanese international student group. Este estudio examinó las diferencias entre estudiantes universitarios internacionales japoneses y estudiantes universitarios estadounidenses en lo concerniente al estigma hacia las personas con trastornos psicológicos, la tolerancia del estigma al buscar ayuda y la auto‐ocultación. Los estudiantes internacionales japoneses mostraron un mayor estigma hacia los individuos con trastornos psicológicos que sus homólogos estadounidenses. Sin embargo, no se encontró ninguna interrelación entre estas variables en el grupo de estudiantes internacionales japoneses.     

Morning-evening type and stress-related personality in Japanese college students

An earlier report by Mecacci and Rocchetti showed a significant, weak, and positive correlation between Evening type as measured by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and Type A personality as measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey and the Bortner Type A Scale in Italian college students. The present study of 503 Japanese college students yielded a significant and weakly negative correlation. The bases for the different results were discussed in a psychophysiological context.     

Assessing the cross-cultural content validity of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension scale (PRCA-24)

Despite its popularity in the USA, the most common communication apprehension (CA) measurement scale, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension scale (PRCA-24), has been used in just three studies in Japan. Further, validity analyses have not been reported for Japanese samples. This article attempts to analyze the content validity of the PRCA-24 on Japanese college students. Results indicate that the PRCA-24 may be of use in determining some, but not all, types of CA among Japanese students. Suggestions for future CA research in Japan are offered.     

Further evidence for construct validity of the Interpersonal Relationship Inventory: Japanese version

The Japanese versions of the Interpersonal Relationship Inventory, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Self-esteem Scale were administered to 153 Japanese college students. Weak to modest significant correlations between scores on the inventory and measure of life satisfaction and self-esteem provided further incremental support for construct validity of the inventory.     

Relations of social problem solving with interpersonal competence in Japanese students

To clarify the relations of the dimensions of social problem solving with those of interpersonal competence in a sample of 234 Japanese college students, Japanese versions of the Social Problem-solving Inventory-Revised and the Social Skill Scale were administered. Pearson correlations between the two sets of variables were low, but higher within each set of subscales. Cronbach's alpha was low for four subscales assessing interpersonal competence.