Japanese Americans

Understanding Japanese Patterns of Social Relations

Hayashi emphasized that Japanese character has been profoundly influenced historically by a concern to maintain wa (“peace”; “harmony”). Wa in this context means primarily a concern for conflict avoidance. This idea is supported by American child psychologist Fred Rothbaum and colleagues in their extensive review of child socialization studies in Japan and the United States. They concluded that Japanese children are trained toward accommodative relations, whereas American children, trained for individualism, show a stronger potential for conflict.

The most distinctive characteristic of the Japanese interpersonal style is the exceptional amount of perceptual attention each person gives the other, especially the other's inner feelings and motives, and low attention to the ego-oriented self. Evidence indicates that these tendencies were influenced historically by the strong concern of the Japanese to minimize interpersonal conflict, for conflict avoidance requires that one apprehend the other's attitudes and carefully avoid actions that might provoke the other's opposition. G. H. Mead has shown that all meaningful interactions require each individual to “take the attitude of the other”–that is, see things from the other's perspective. Our view is that the Japanese not only devote a great amount of attention to “taking the attitude of the other” (TAO), but also seek to probe the other's subjective self to a degree uncommon in most cultures.

“Taking the attitude of the other” is very similar in meaning to role taking and to empathy, but role taking implies the existence of institutionally or customarily defined roles, and empathy implies a conscious effort to sense another's inner feelings. TAO is a more inclusive concept, for as Mead shows, it is a perception that is involved in all meaningful interaction. When I say to another, “Please shut the door,” the statement would be meaningless if I did not anticipate that the other [Page 276]would respond in a specific way. Thus, TAO is a universal in all human interactions. The Japanese engage in the process in a special way, however.

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