Self and interpersonal relations in Japan and the U.S.

本研究以自我概念与人际关系模式的相互构成关系为中心，进行了一系列的日美比较研究。(l)我们研究了日本和美国熟人之间的对话模式，发现在美国，对对话伙伴的积极评论频率远远高于对伙伴的负面评论，但这种趋势在日本和更远的地方大大减弱;美国听众倾向于从语气积极的评论中推断出真实的意图，而日本听众则倾向于从语气消极的评论中推断出意图。(2)在一系列关于自我概念和重要他人感知期望的分析中，我们发现美国人的自我倾向于包含更多的积极属性，而不是消极属性，而且，他们认为这些属性与他们的高期望相对应。 关于我们 重要的其他人的期待。相比之下，日本人的自我在内容上要少得多，而且，日本人倾向于认为他们的自我与重要他人对他们的高期望之间存在相当大的差距。这两点证明了先前关于美国自我增强偏见和日本自我批评偏见的研究结果的可靠性，并且进一步强调了这些心理倾向的一些重要的社会和集体锚点。最后，（3）在对会话加工进行了一系列探索性研究之后，我们最终得出了一个关于情绪言语加工的跨文化实验研究。在这项研究中，我们已经获得了明确的证据表明，在美国，言语内容比语音语调具有更高的优先级处理，但在日本，语音信息往往得到更大的优先级处理。这种情绪言语加工模式的跨文化差异可能反映了两种文化系统的一个重要方面。因此，在美国的谈话中，通常会有一个隐含的假设，即所说的就是所指的，而在日本，许多谈话中的一个关键假设可能涉及这样一种想法，即所指的往往是永远不会说出来的。目前的发现表明，许多涉及大量使用语言信息的自学方法在欧美文化中使用时可能比在日本使用时更有效，因此，邀请进一步探索自我和相关的问题，文化，社会和发展心理学的替代方法，较少依赖于口头信息。少

In this research project, we cried out a series of Japan-United States comparative studies with a focus on mutually constitutive relationships between self-concepts and patterns of interpersonal relationships, Three major theoretical and empirical findings have emerged. (l) We examined patterns of conversations among acquaintances in Japan and the United States, and found that the frequency of positive comments on the conversation partner is much higher than that of negative comments on the partner in the United States, but this trend is very much attenuated in Japan and further ; American Iisteners tend to infer the real intentionin the positively toned comments, but Japanese tend to infer it in the negatively toned comments. (2) In a series of analyzes of self-concepts an perceived expectations by significant others, we found that the self of Americans tends to contain many more positive attributes than negative ones and, further, they perceive them to be corresponding to the high ex … More pectations by the significant others. By contrast, the self of Japanese is much less positive in content and, further, Japanese tend to perceive a considerable gap between their selves and the high expectations on them by the significant others. These two points demonstrate the robustness of previous findings on self - enhancing biases in the United States and self-critical biases in Japan and, further, they underscore some of the important social and collective anchors of these psychological tendencies. Finally, (3) after a series of exploratory studies on the processing of conversations, we eventually cried out a cross-cultural experimental study on the processing of emotional speech. In this study we have obtained clear evidence that verbal content has a much high priority of processing than vocal intonation in the United States ; but in Japan vocal information tends to receive a greater priority of processing. This cross-cultural difference in the mode of the processing of emotional speech may reflect one important aspect of the two cultural systems. Thus, in the United States conversations often proceed with an implicit assumption that what is said is what is meant, whereas in Japan one key assumption in many conversations may involve the idea that what is meant is often never said.Moreover, the current finding suggests that many methods of self studies that involve the heavy use of verbal information may be more valid when used in European American cultures than when adopted in Japan, thus inviting further explorations of self and related issues of cultural, social, and developmental psychology with alternative methods that rely less on verbal information. Less