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Cultural differences in emotional responses to success and failure
Michael Lewis1*,
Kiyoko Takai-Kawakami2,
Kiyobumi Kawakami3,
and
Margaret Wolan Sullivan1
1 Institute for the Study of Child Development, RWJMS, USA
2 Japan Women's University, Japan
3 University of Sacred Heart, Japan
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lewis{at}umdnj.edu.
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Abstract |
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The emotional responses to achievement contexts of 149 preschool children from three cultural groups were observed. The children were Japanese (N = 32), African American (N = 63) and White American of mixed European ancestry (N = 54). The results showed that Japanese children differed from American children in expressing less shame, pride, and sadness, but more of both exposure and evaluative embarrassment. African American and White American children did not differ from one another. American children however showed more evaluative as opposed to exposure embarrassment. This finding supports the idea that success and failure are interpreted differently by Japanese children during the preschool years. The low amount of sadness and shame expression, and the limited range of number of different expressions observed in the Japanese children agree with the general finding that East Asian infants and young children differ from Western infants and children primarily in the display of negative expressions. These results demonstrate that cultural differences, whether due to temperament or direct socialization of cultural values, influence how children respond to achievement situations.
First published on November 6, 2009
International Journal of Behavioral Development 2009, doi:10.1177/0165025409348559
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