Seisen Jogakuin College

About: Seisen Jogakuin College is a education organization based out in Nagano, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages & Vocabulary. The organization has 15 authors who have published 22 publications receiving 245 citations.

Maternal personality and parenting cognitions in cross-cultural perspective:

Abstract: A total of 467 mothers of firstborn 20-month-old children from 7 countries (103 Argentine, 61 Belgian, 39 Israeli, 78 Italian, 57 Japanese, 69 Korean, and 60 US American) completed the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI), measures of parenting cognitions (self-perceptions and knowledge), and a social desirability scale. Our first analysis showed that the Five-Factor structure of personality (Openness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) could be extracted from the JPI scales when cross-cultural data from mothers in the 7 countries were analyzed; it was also replicable and generalizable in mothers from so-called individualist and collectivist cultures. Our second analysis showed that the five personality factors relate differently to diverse parenting cognitions in those individualist versus collectivist cultures. Maternal personality has significance in studies of normative parenting, child development, and family process across cultural contexts.

Attachment and Amae: Parent—Child Closeness in the United States and Japan

Abstract: Attachment investigators provide evidence that security takes similar forms and has similar antecedents and consequences in diverse cultures. However, there is also evidence that security differs across culture, and the nature of the similarities and differences are not well understood. A total of 39 mothers from the United States and 32 mothers from Japan were interviewed to assess beliefs about attachment and amae (expectations of indulgence and interdependence). Cultural similarities involved the manifestation of security and insecurity, the role of maternal responsiveness, and the link between security and desirable child characteristics. Cultural differences also emerged: There is more exploration associated with security and more anger and aggression associated with insecurity in the United States, and U.S. mothers link security with a much greater range of positive attributes than do Japanese mothers, who more often link security with accommodative behaviors. In mildly stressful situations, Japanes...

Who helps you? Self and other sources of support among youth in Japan and the USA

Abstract: Japanese and U.S. sixth, eighth, and tenth graders (N = 2141) responded to questionnaires asking whom they depended on in six contexts of need. These contexts were: morning awakening, physical illness, emotional upset, help with homework, causing a problem, and guidance in extracurricular activities. Findings indicated that, relative to culture, contextual effects exerted an equally if not more powerful effect on students' responses. In line with traditional cross-national theorizing, U.S. youth were, overall, more self-reliant than their Japanese peers. In contrast to such theorizing, U.S. students were more interdependent with family, and Japanese students were more interdependent with peers, than their counterparts in the other country. Furthermore, both Japanese and U.S. youth showed similar age-related decreases in interdependence with family and increases in interdependence with peers. Results are discussed in terms of active dyadic help-seeking versus conceptualized notions of social identity, and ...

An investigation of children’s peer trust across culture: Is the composition of peer trust universal?

Abstract: The components of children’s trust in same-gender peers (trust beliefs, ascribed trustworthiness, and dyadic reciprocal trust) were examined in samples of 8–11-year-olds from the UK, Italy, and Jap...

From international sports to international competition: Longitudinal study of the Beijing Olympic Games

Abstract: To investigate whether and how the Beijing Olympic Games influenced the Chinese competitiveness towards foreigners, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal study and found that participants' competitiveness towards foreigners from five comparison target nations, particularly towards Japanese, South Koreans and Kenyans, was higher during the Games than before and/or after. We further found that nationalism predicted the competitiveness toward Japanese and South Koreans, but did not predict the competitiveness toward Americans, Russians and Kenyans. Additionally, we found that patriotism played little role in the effects of the Games on competitiveness towards foreigners. We herein discuss the relationship between national comparisons, nationalism and national conflict.