1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

A Cognitive Construct of Motivation in JAPAN

Research Project

Project/Area Number	07451035
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	教育・社会系心理学
Research Institution	Shirayuri College
Principal Investigator	AZUMA Hiroshi Shirayuri College, Developmental Psychology, Prof., 文学部, 教授 (60012548)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	KARASAWA Mayumi Shirayuri College, Developmental Psychology, Instructor, 文学部, 助手 (60255940) MIYASHITA Takahiro Shirayuri College, Educational Psychology, Assistant Prof., 文学部, 助教授 (00190778)
Project Period (FY)	1995 – 1997
Keywords	cross-cultural study / motivation / goal / self-efficacy / cultural norms / self
Research Abstract	This study aimed at exploring ways in which Japanese motivation is shaped and constituted by cultural practices and collective meanings. Three studies are conducted in Japanese to determine the nature of dynamic system of interdependent motivation in Japan. 1)Cutural Aspects of the Goal-Japan VS US comparison. From content analysis of description of 20years latter and 7years later, Japanese subjects described their future with unclear and vague sentences while American subjects described their future with clear and goal-oriented sentences. Also, Japanese showed clear tendency of process-oriented with effort. 2)In study 2, we examined high school students about their beliefs about the academic performance with CAMI instruments and Japanese items which included interpersonal efficacy items. The results showed that Japanese subjects showed high correlation with academic performance and interpersonal items. The importance of relation concerned efficacy was pronounced among Japanee students. 3)As to the relationship between Japanese cultural norms and Japanese way of self-making, we analyzed the content of free essays concerning their past life. In most of those essays, Japanese cultural moral norms, Hansei, scripts were shown. Those results support to the hypothesis that Japanese construct of motivation highly related their interpersonal relationship and cultural norms.