Convergence of Character Strengths in American and Japanese Young Adults

We investigated cultural influences on the distribution of character strengths, gender differences in character strengths, and the relationship of happiness to character strengths. Young adults from the United States (n=1099) and Japan (n=308) completed the English or Japanese versions of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. American and Japanese showed similar distributions of the 24 strengths measured: Higher strengths included love, humor and kindness, and lesser strengths included prudence, self-regulation, and modesty. Gender differences across cultures were also similar: Females were more likely than males to report strengths of love and kindness, whereas males were more likely to report bravery and creativity. In both samples, associations with happiness were found for zest, hope, curiosity and gratitude. The present study is a first step in an international study of character strengths, and we discuss the ubiquity and variation of character across culture.     

A longitudinal study of the moderating effects of social capital on the relationships between changes in human capital and ikigai among Japanese older adults

Ikigai, one of the indices of well‐being, tends to decline with age because resources relating to ikigai decline. However, there are individual differences in this decline. This study tested for maintenance of ikigai among Japanese elderly, using a longitudinal study investigating the moderating role of social capital on the effects of changes in human capital on ikigai. We conducted a panel survey targeting 1,068 people (M age = 73.01 years) in 2013, and 686 people in 2017. The variables were ikigai, changes in human capital (self‐rated financial status, physical health) and social capital (social networks, trust in others), educational level, and control variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed the interaction effects of changes in physical health and changes in social networks (strong ties, weak ties) on follow‐up ikigai. Post hoc analyses indicated that declines in physical health predicted declines in ikigai among those whose social networks (strong ties and weak ties) had declined in the 4‐year study, but these relationships were not significant among those whose social networks had increased. The results suggest that older adults can weaken the adverse effect of a decline in human capital on ikigai by maintaining or increasing social networks.     

Cultural influences in somatosensory amplification and their association with negative affective states

Previous research has indicated that, reflecting East Asians’ holistic attentional style, they are likely to emphasize more somatic symptoms and perceive their internal visceral states less accurately as compared with Westerners. Based on these findings, comparing representative samples of Americans and Japanese participants, this research examined whether somatosensory amplification would vary across cultures. Moreover, by controlling confounding factors, including neuroticism and chronic disorders, the possibility that the association between somatosensory amplification and negative affective states differs across cultures also was tested. The results showed that Japanese exhibit higher somatosensory amplification than do Americans. In both cultures, as neuroticism and the number of chronic disorders increased, negative affective states also increased, leading to higher somatosensory amplification. Whereas negative affective states completely mediated the paths of neuroticism and chronic disorders to somatosensory amplification in the United States, such mediation was partial in Japan. Moreover, the association between somatosensory amplification and negative affective states was weaker in Japanese than in Americans.     

Peacemaking and consolation in Japanese preschoolers witnessing peer aggression

This article reports developmental changes relating to reconciliation and bystanders' affiliation with victims of aggression (i.e., consolation) among 3- to 5-year-old Japanese preschool children. Use of the post-conflict-matched control (PC-MC) method revealed that the frequency with which reconciliation and consolation were offered to a victim increased steeply in 5-year-olds, compared with 3- and 4-year-olds. The complexity of contextual factors affecting the occurrence of reconciliation and the form of consolation increased with age. Consolation occurred more often before reconciliation than after among all but the 3-year-olds and occurred more often when no reconciliation occurred than when it did occur among all classes. These findings support the view that consolation functions as a substitute for reconciliation, lessening the tension experienced by the victim of aggression.     

Voluntary settlement and the spirit of independence: evidence from Japan's "Northern frontier"

The authors hypothesized that economically motivated voluntary settlement in the frontier fosters independent agency. While illuminating the historical origin of American individualism, this hypothesis can be most powerfully tested in a region that is embedded in a broader culture of interdependence and yet has undergone a recent history of such settlement. The authors therefore examined residents of Japan's northern island (Hokkaido). Hokkaido was extensively settled by ethnic Japanese beginning in the 1870s and for several decades thereafter. Many of the current residents of Hokkaido are the descendents of the original settlers from this period. As predicted, Japanese socialized and/or immersed in Hokkaido were nearly as likely as European Americans in North America to associate happiness with personal achievement (Study 1), to show a personal dissonance effect wherein self-justification is motivated by a threat to personal self-images (Study 2), and to commit a dispositional bias in causal attribution (Study 3). In contrast, these marker effects of independent agency were largely absent for non-Hokkaido residents in Japan. Implications for theories of cultural change and persistence are discussed.     

Can you eat it? A link between categorization difficulty and food likability

In the present study we examined whether categorization difficulty regarding a food is related to its likability. For this purpose, we produced stimulus images by morphing photographs of a tomato and a strawberry. Subjects categorized these images as either a tomato or a strawberry and in separate sessions evaluated the food's eatability or the subject's willingness to eat (Experiments 1 and 2) and the likeliness of existence of each food (Experiment 2). The lowest score for ca- tegorization confidence coincided with the lowest scores for eatability, willingness to eat, and likeliness of existence. In Experiment 3, we found that food neophobia, a trait of ingestion avoidance of novel foods, modulated food likability but not categorization confidence. These findings suggest that a high categorization difficulty generally co-occurs with a decrease in food likability and that food neophobia modulates likability. This avoidance of difficult-to-categorize foods seems ecologically valid because before eating we have little information regarding whether a food is potentially harmful.     

Misery loves company: when sadness increases the desire for social connectedness

In three experiments, the authors investigated the effects of sadness on the desire for social connectedness. They hypothesized that sadness serves an adaptive function by motivating people to reach out to others and preferentially attend to information related to one's current level of social connectedness, but only when it is instigated by social loss. Consistent with this hypothesis, the authors observed that sadness induced by an emotional depiction of social loss enhanced (a) attention to nonverbal cues, an important source of information concerning an individual's current level of social connectedness (Experiment 1), and (b) the desire to engage in social behaviors (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3 the authors found that sadness that results from imagined social loss uniquely produced this pattern of effects. Sadness that resulted from imagined failure had different effects on motivation and no effect on sensitivity to nonverbal cues. These results support and refine functional explanations for the universality of sadness.     

Changes in Families’ Caregiving Experiences through Involvement as Participants then Facilitators in a Family Peer‐Education Program for Mental Disorders in Japan

A family peer‐education program for mental disorders was developed in Japan, similar to existing programs in the United States and Hong Kong. Families that serve as facilitators in such programs may enhance their caregiving processes and, thereby, their well‐being. This study's aim was to describe how families’ caregiving experiences change, beginning with the onset of a family member's mental illness, through their involvement in a family group or peer‐education program as participants then facilitators. Thus, this study was conducted in a family peer‐education program for mental disorders in Japan. Group interviews were conducted with 27 facilitators from seven program sites about their experiences before, during, and after becoming facilitators. Interview data were coded and categorized into five stages of caregiving processes: (1) withdrawing and suppressing negative experiences with difficulty and regret; (2) finding comfort through being listened to about negative experiences; (3) supporting participants’ sharing as facilitators; (4) understanding and affirming oneself through repeated sharing of experiences; and (5) finding value and social roles in one's experiences. The third, fourth, and fifth stages were experienced by the facilitators. The value that the facilitators placed on their caregiving experiences changed from negative to positive, which participants regarded as helpful and supportive. We conclude that serving as facilitators may improve families’ caregiving processes.     

Subjective Happiness and Emotional Responsiveness to Food Stimuli

Through three studies, this study aims to investigate the relationship between subjective happiness and responsiveness to eating and to foods. In Study 1, 299 Japanese undergraduates completed the Japanese subjective happiness scale and self-report questionnaires for attitudes toward eating and food. Study 1 revealed that in daily life, people with higher happiness levels show a stronger tendency to feel pleasure by eating than those with lower happiness levels. In Study 2, 26 Japanese undergraduates performed impression assessments for foods when looking at pictures of them. In Study 3, 22 Japanese undergraduates performed the same assessments when looking at real foods and eating them using a comparison with the data from pictures of non-food items as a control condition. The results of the study indicate that people with higher happiness levels show a stronger emotional response (happy and glad) to food stimuli than those with lower happiness levels. Even images of food were effective. No such group differences were observed for appetitive responses. It was also shown that emotional responses to the pictures of non-food items’ condition in the two groups did not differ. The present studies provided empirical evidence that subjective happiness has relevance to daily eating behavior and attitudes. Further studies should investigate the possibility that subjective happiness is related to a wide range of behavior and cognition in our daily life.