Comparative Socio-Ecological Psychology of Praise Behavior: What Distinguishes Between the Societies of Praise and Non-Praise

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H01745
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10010:Social psychology-related
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Yuki Masaki 北海道大学, 文学研究院, 教授 (50301859)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 称賛 / 社会生態心理学 / 文化差 / 関係流動性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Praise is the behavior of communicating to the individual or a third party that the person has desirable qualities or has performed desirable actions. Previous research has found cross-cultural differences in how often praise is done and how much it is liked. This study has uncovered a social factor (relational mobility) that determines the amount of praise and criticism given in society, people’s sensitivity to them, and the people’s psychological characteristics they bring about (such as strong assertiveness, empathy, and internal motivation, as well as concealment of prosocial behavior, etc.).

Free Research Field

社会心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学術的意義：①従来解明されていなかった、「褒め合う社会」と「批判し合う社会」の違いを生む原因の一つとして、関係流動性（対人関係の選択の自由度）を同定した。②褒め合う社会が人々にどのような心理や行動を生み出すのかを明らかにした。
社会的意義：「褒め下手」「褒められ下手」とされがちな日本人が、関係流動性が増加していく今後の社会で、「褒め上手」「褒められ上手」に変わっていく必要性が示唆された。