7 - Beyond Individualism and Sociocentrism: An Ontological Analysis of the Opposing Elements in Personal Experiences of Japanese Adolescents

Summary

In recent years, cultural psychologists have emphasized the contrast between the individualistic premises of American psychology and the sociocentric orientation of non-Western indigenous psychology (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Marsella, DeVos, & Hsu, 1985; Shweder & Bourne, 1984). Generally, the discussion focuses on the proposed, individually self-contained, and self-transcendent aspects of Western selfhood (Geertz, 1983), and its interpersonally contextual and “other-oriented” (collective, empathic, etc.) counterparts, particularly in India (Dumont, 1970; Shweder & Bourne, 1984) and Japan (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Others have pointed out methodological and conceptual limitations of an attempt to link directly the two dichotomized essences to the aspects of self that are characteristically psychological and hence less accessible to direct observation and measurement, and to generalize the dichotomy to groups with large populations such as Japanese or East Asians who are contrasted with Westerners (Kusserow, 1999; Lindholm, 1997; Murray, 1993; Spiro, 1993).

Japan provides a particularly illuminating context for this debate. Nearly a half century ago, Ruth Benedict (1946) argued that fear of being shamed in interpersonal relationships (hito ni hazukashii) was the main cultural configuration of Japanese behavior, personality, and socialization. Others who followed Benedict's footsteps two decades later elaborated her interpersonal framework of analysis (e.g., Lebra, 1976; Nakane, 1970). Some Japanese scholars extended it as a conceptual basis of their nihonjinron, a “theory” of Japanese people's uniqueness (e.g., Aida, 1970; Doi, 1977; Hamaguchi, 1977; Kimura, 1972).