Cognitive and Behavioral Variations within the Collectivistic Cultural Sphere: Comparing Japanese and Koreans’ Self/Other Views and the Influence on Emotion Processing

要旨

Cross-cultural psychology research often incorporates a division of East and West, contrasting people in East-Asian collectivistic and Western individualistic cultures. However, the extent of such trait should differ within the individualistic or collectivistic group, and looking into behavioral variations occurring within the individual or collectivistic cultural sphere is also very important for the cross-cultural research. To contribute to this purpose, this article compares people from Japan and South Korea based on literature review to reveal how culture influence people’s views on themselves and others, as well as communication styles. Further, the article discusses how those views and communication styles form Japanese and Korean’s emotional experiences. First, the article starts from contrasting two countries in terms of geography, history, language, and belief, to outline how these factors have shaped the two cultures. Second, the Japanese and Korean views of self and others are described, and the communication styles of the two cultures are compared. Third, emotional experiences of collectivistic individuals, including Japanese and Korean, are contrasted with those of individualistic people, mainly westerners. Finally, the cultural differences between Japanese and Korean are described.

主題