The effects of culture on beliefs about stress and coping: Causal attribution of Anglo-American and Japanese persons

This study investigated the effects of culture on beliefs about stress and successful coping. Anglo-American and Japanese samples responded to a questionnaire, and engaged in subsequent interviews as a means of measuring how they would attribute the cause of stress and successful coping. The Japanese subjects were found more likely than Anglo-Americans to attribute successful coping to good luck and to see stress as caused by bad luck. The Japanese persons also showed a stronger tendency to see their lack of carefulness as a cause of stress than American subjects. The implications of the findings of this research study for psychotherapists who treat non-Western clients is also discussed.