日本人の国民性における外部依存性

その育児様式との関連における分析

抄録

An attempt is made in this article to investigate “reliance-upon-others, ” one of the characteristics which is strongly marked in the national character of the Japanese people, in special reference to the child-rearing pattern in Japan.
To begin with, what is the national character? Many Japanese scholars have already discussed this problem, mainly from historical, literary and philosophical standpoints. The question, however, is to be answered through considering it as closely related to personality of the individual, society, and culture. The writer, linking up with the American trends, discusses this problem from the standpoint of cultural anthropology, especially from that of culture and personality. The writer tries to point out the fact that, despite the differences of the standpoints and methods used in these analyses, “reliance-upon-others” is to be looked on as a basic characteristic of the national character of the Japanese people. And by way of examination of the process in which the characteristic permeates into personality of each individual, the process or factors of the formation of personality, the significant features of the child rearing pattern in Japan are considered as fundamentally important. The writer, after theoretically studying the connection between the child-rearing pattern and the national character, investigates the relation of the characteristic of “reliance-upon-others” in the national character of the Japanese people to the child-rearing pattern.