Credit and blame among American and Japanese children: normative, cultural, and individual differences

Japanese and American 5th graders (N = 593 children, 198 American and 395 Japanese) assigned credit and blame to good and bad classroom deeds and performances. Theoretically, a morality of aspiration involves assigning more credit for a good deed than blame for a corresponding bad deed; a morality of duty involves assigning more blame than credit. In both countries academic achievement norms were most consistent with aspiration, moral norms were judged as duties, and procedural norms were intermediate. Japanese children's responses were more consistent with aspiration than those of Americans. Analyses also explored cultural versus individual differences in sanctioning. The conclusion addresses the relevance of the concept of aspiration to the study of achievement and other norms.