Takashi Kusumi

Pancultural Nostalgia: Prototypical Conceptions Across Cultures

Nostalgia is a frequently experienced complex emotion, understood by laypersons in the United Kingdom and United States of America to (a) refer prototypically to fond, self-relevant, social memories and (b) be more pleasant (e.g., happy, warm) than unpleasant (e.g., sad, regretful). This research examined whether people across cultures conceive of nostalgia in the same way. Students in 18 countries across 5 continents (N = 1,704) rated the prototypicality of 35 features of nostalgia. The samples showed high levels of agreement on the rank-order of features. In all countries, participants rated previously identified central (vs. peripheral) features as more prototypical of nostalgia, and showed greater interindividual agreement regarding central (vs. peripheral) features. Cluster analyses revealed subtle variation among groups of countries with respect to the strength of these pancultural patterns. All except African countries manifested the same factor structure of nostalgia features. Additional exemplars generated by participants in an open-ended format did not entail elaboration of the existing set of 35 features. Findings identified key points of cross-cultural agreement regarding conceptions of nostalgia, supporting the notion that nostalgia is a pancultural emotion.

The effect of a protagonist's emotional shift on situation model construction.

We examined whether readers monitored protagonists’ emotional shifts and whether reader engagement influenced situation model construction. Participants read narratives that included an emotional shift in the middle of the story. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to read stories appreciatively and to empathize with the protagonists. In Experiment 2, readers were instructed to read the stories normally, as if they were reading novels. The results from the two experiments suggest that readers monitor temporal and causal shifts as well as protagonists’ emotional shifts in stories. Moreover, in Experiment 1 readers detected temporal and causal shifts regardless of the degree of their engagement during the empathetic reading, while in Experiment 2 the high ego involvement group detected causal shifts during the normal reading. Thus, these results show both that readers monitor protagonists’ emotional states and that reader emotional engagement can influence situation model construction with normal reading.

Remembering a nuclear accident in Japan: Did it trigger flashbulb memories?

Flashbulb memories are vivid memories of the details surrounding the discovery of an emotional event. We investigated whether the nuclear accident that occurred in Japan in 1999 produced flashbulb memories among people who lived near the accident site. A questionnaire was distributed twice (approximately 3 weeks after the accident and 1 year later) to (1) the residents of the communities surrounding the accident site, (2) the students at a university near the accident site, and (3) the students at two universities far away from the accident site. Flashbulb memory holders were defined as those individuals who showed consistent memories between test and retest. The results indicated that only a small percentage of participants formed flashbulb memories. Further, no age-related decline was found. Flashbulb memories were distinguished by perfect or near perfect scores on four attributes: source, place, activity, and people. The results also indicated that the ratings on emotional reactions, personal consequentiality, and surprise did not differentiate between the flashbulb and non-flashbulb memory holders. In contrast, the flashbulb memory holders reported rehearsing more than the non-flashbulb memory holders. These results supported the notion that flashbulb memories are formed through rehearsal rather than at encoding. However, it is also possible that rehearsal was a result of the flashbulb memory.

Salesperson’s procedural knowledge, experience and performance

The authors investigated the moderating effect of sales experience on the relationship between salespeople’s procedural knowledge and their performance, using a sample of 108 salespeople working at three car dealerships in Japan. Moderated regression analyses suggested that the more experience salespeople gain, the stronger the relationship between procedural knowledge and performance becomes. The results provide some support for the hypothesis that the sales experience moderates the relationship between procedural knowledge and performance, which is consistent with Anderson’s (1982, 1983) model and the ten‐year rule of necessary preparation in expertise research. The results also suggest that a high‐performing sales expert has customer‐oriented and active selling knowledge. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings in managing salespeople are discussed.

Differences between estimating protagonists' emotions and evaluating readers' emotions in narrative comprehension

We examined the differences between estimating the emotions of protagonists and evaluating those of readers in narrative comprehension. Half of the participants read stories and rated the emotional states of the protagonists, while the other half of the participants rated their own emotional states while reading the stories. The results showed that reading comprehension was facilitated when highly extraverted participants read stories about, and rated the emotional experiences of, extraverted protagonists, with personalities similar to their own. However, the same facilitative effect was not observed for less extraverted participants, nor was it observed for either type of participants under the condition in which participants rated their own emotional experiences. Thus, at least for highly extraverted participants, readers both facilitated the construction of a situation model and correctly estimated the emotional states of protagonists who were similar to themselves, perhaps due to empathy.

Effects of categorical dissimilarity and affective similarity between constituent words on metaphor appreciation

This study examines the effects of categorical and affective similarities between the constituent words of sentence (Noun-A is like Noun-B) on metaphor appreciation. In the preliminary studies using 48 words to be used later, the two kinds of similarity were measured separately by either sorting or semantic differential technique. In the main study, a set of five rating tasks concerning three types of formulaic sentences (literal, metaphorical, and anomalous) was given for each of 28 subjects in relation to (a) similarity between the words in a pairing, (b) similarity of the words in a particular formulaic sentence, (c) sentence comprehensibility, (d) sentence novelty, and (e) metaphor aptness. The application of path analysis for the above data revealed the following: (1) Categorical dissimilarity affects novelty [N], (2) affective similarity influences comprehensibility [C], and (3) [N] and [C] affect metaphor aptness.

Cultural grounding of regret: Regret in self and interpersonal contexts

The purpose of this study was to explore cultural similarities and differences in regret, focusing on distinctions between interpersonal and self-situations, and between action and inaction regrets. Japanese and American undergraduates were asked to describe regrets experienced in interpersonal and self-situations. We found that both situational and cultural contexts influenced the likelihood of regretting inactions over actions. Participants were more likely to recall inaction regrets in self-situations than in interpersonal situations, and that the likelihood of recalling inaction regrets was more pronounced for Americans than for Japanese. Furthermore, we examined the intensity of the regret. Whereas American students experienced regret as intense as that of Japanese students in self-situations, Japanese students experienced regret more strongly than American students in interpersonal situations. Detailed content analysis also showed that individuals experienced regret in ways consistent with cultural values. The situational and cultural grounding of regret is discussed.

Losing Confidence Over Time: Temporal Changes in Self-Esteem Among Older Children and Early Adolescents in Japan, 1999-2006

We examined temporal changes in self-esteem among elementary and middle school students in Japan. Previous research has shown that self-esteem decreased among various sectors of the population, from middle school students to adults between 1984 and 2010 in Japan. However, it was unclear whether such temporal changes are also present at earlier stages of development (e.g., in elementary school) and in individual subgroups (e.g., each gender and developmental stage). Identifying such boundary conditions of temporal change will contribute to a better understanding of how cultures change over time. We analyzed representative and large-sample time-series data collected by the Japanese government in 1999 and 2006. Results showed that self-esteem decreased among elementary and middle school students regardless of gender and developmental stage. We suggest that from an early stage of development and among a broad range of the population in Japan, people’s general self-evaluations became more negative between 1999 and 2006.

The Development of a Positive Community using Virtual Space for Cancer Patients

This research investigated the effect of using a three-dimensional online chat environment on community development for cancer patients¿ mental health. In the support group, from two to five patients and one facilitator chatted in virtual space for a one and half hour session every week for three years using avatars with emotional expressions. The messages in the support group were analyzed by text mining tool. The results showed that the frequency of positive emotion words increased, on the other hand, the negative words decreased after one year. The percentage of participants¿ messages gradually increased with the sessions. The informational support in messages for improving their QOL (quality of life) increased during the three years. These data showed that the virtual support group promotes patients¿ positive emotions, QOL, and autonomy of the self-help group.

Analysis of Community Development using Chat Logs: A Virtual Support Group of Cancer Patients

In this paper, we report the results of a support group of cancer patients who use a 3-dimensional chat system. We examined the sequences of their messages and intervals with chat logs to evaluate the community development by conversational data. The users tended to send serious messages during long intervals, and the roles they played in the conversations changed as a sense of community emerged.