Between an individualistic orientation and the number of close friends in the U.S. Therefore, we concluded that the effect of individualistic values differs between Japan and the U.S. Specifically, individualistic values in Japan were associated with a deterioration in close relationships and a decrease in SWB, whereas individualistic values in the U.S. did not have a negative effect on close relationships and SWB.
Individualism in the European American cultural context is based on shared values and the notion that individuals are “independent from each other,” but still “connected with each other.” In European American cultural contexts, this sense of values and behavioral strategies are fostered through long historical periods (e.g., Nisbett, 2003; Fincher et al., 2008). In contrast, it is only recently that individualistic systems or environments have been drastically imported to East Asian cultural context. Therefore, these environments are comparatively new, and the Japanese imported individualism might consist only of parts of Western individualism. For example, even though Japanese companies or schools use personal achievement systems, these systems are not backed by the personal values that govem these systems in European American cultural context, such as active interpersonal strategies, religious ideas, or high self-efficacy. Therefore, it remains difficult for East Asians to buffer the negative effects of individualistic systems or environment.
1. What kind of study does this article describe?
What kinds of research methods did the authors of the study use?
Identity the type or types of research method used and explain why this study is an example of the type or types of methods you chose.
2. Analyze the decision the researchers made in terms of their subjects in this study.
Why do you think the researchers chose to use subjects from universities?
What are advantages and disadvantages of using university students as subjects?
3. Discuss the variables investigated by this study and the ways these variables were measured.
What are the three main variables in the study? How were these three variables measured?
What are some advantages and disadvantages of the strategies the researchers used to measure their variables?
4. What were the hypotheses the researchers tested?
What did the researchers find when they conducted their study?
What were the key results or findings?
Were the different hypotheses supported or not supported by the results of the study?
5. Identify at least one limitation or potential problem with this study and the conclusions the researchers drew from their findings.
6. Identify at least one strength of this study in terms of the methods the researchers used. Use concepts and terms from the lesson, defining those terms and explaining the concepts as you apply them to this study.
