Takehiro Fujihara

Justification of interpersonal aggression in Japanese, American, and Spanish students

Six hundred and thirty-two university students of both sexes—242 Japanese (137 males and 105 females), 190 Spanish (71 males and 119 females), and 200 American (100 males and 100 females)—completed a questionnaire that examined their attitudes toward various kinds of aggression directed at other people in different situations that ranged from self-defense to a method of overcoming communication problems. Factor analysis revealed three factors: physical aggression (killing, torture, and hitting), direct verbal aggression (shouting and rage), and indirect verbal aggression (being ironic and hindering). The basic factor structure of the Japanese, the Spanish, and the USA samples was similar. In all samples, men showed a higher justification of physical aggressive acts in any situation and of indirect verbal aggression in nondefensive circumstances. Cultural differences were found in the degree of justification of the three factors: in all kinds of situations, Japanese students showed a lower justification of indirect verbal aggression but a higher justification of direct verbal aggression than USA and Spain samples. Physical aggression in defensive situations is justified more by Americans than by Japanese and Spanish students. These findings suggest the existence of a common basic moral code about physical aggressive acts, but there seems to be a cultural influence on moral codes concerning verbal aggressive acts. Oriental cultures, with an interdependent construal of self, seem to be more permissive of direct verbal aggression compared with Western cultures, but they have less tolerance for indirect verbal aggression. There were practically no significant differences between American and Spanish scores. Aggr. Behav. 25:185–195, 1999.

Adjustment patterns of international students in Japan

Abstract Cross-cultural adjustment of international students in Japan was approached through a comprehensive questionnaire that looked at various aspects of adjustment. Some 237 students of various national backgrounds participated in the study. Four factors of adjustment were attained: general adjustment, internally controlled adjustment, affiliation adjustment, and externally dependent adjustment. These four facets were analyzed with respect to several demographic traits of respondents. Some of the more important findings include the following: Asian subjects generally were less adjusted than those of Western and Latin American cultures; U-curve patterns with time were not evident in three of the four factors; those more proficient in the Japanese language did not prove to be generally better off than those less fortunate; and scholarship recipients were better adjusted than those relying on private sources for funding.

Effects of social networks on cross‐cultural adjustment

A total of 221 responses were obtained from a survey of international students in Japan, regarding the facilitative effects of social network formation on their adjustment. Regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships among four types of adjustment revealed in a preceding study (“general adjustment,”“self-control,”“affiliative” and “dependent”), network size, demographic variables, expected social support, etc. For each adjustment type, predictive variables were identified. Two of the variables that showed network effects on adjustment were Japanese language proficiency and race (Asians vs. Westerners). From these results, it would appear that social network formation does facilitate adjustment, and insight into the effect of adjustment type and demographic variables on network functions was obtained. Furthermore, the actual conditions regarding network formation of international students in Japan were revealed.