AN INDIRECT SELF-ENHANCEMENT IN RELATIONSHIP AMONG JAPANESE

Past research in cross-cultural psychology has emphasized a contrast between Western self-serving tendency and East Asian self-effacing tendency in attributions. The present author, however, poses a question to this simple dichotomy and presents some empirical evidence for indirect self-enhancement among Japanese. Participants were asked to recall their positive and negative life events and to make attributions. Results showed that Japanese tended to make self-effacing attributions for their success and failure. At the same time, however, they expected their parents, siblings, and close friends to make internal attributions for their success more than for their failure. In addition, they believed that these people understand them to a large extent. Japanese would not enhance or protect their self-esteem explicitly, but that they would do so indirectly through others’ eyes.