2010 Volume 32 Pages 64-79
The aim of the present study is to explore the structure of the social identity of German and Chinese students living in Japan and its relationship to their perception of Japan as an indicator for cross-cultural adaptation. 32 German students (22 male & 10 female) and 32 Chinese students (10 male & 22 female) studying at a university in Tokyo were asked to answer the questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on students’ social identity and its evaluation (collective self-esteem), personal self-esteem, perception of Japan, and adaptation to daily life in Japan. The subjects were also asked to write an open-ended response about their perceptions of Japan. The results suggest that the family was recognized as the most important reference group for both cultural groups. Significant cultural differences were found in terms of the object and the diversity of social identity; Chinese students showed strong feelings of belonging and appreciation towards their own nation, whereas the objects of social identity among German students were more diverse, including identification with supra-natural dimensions such as being a “European citizen” or “human being”. German students expressed significantly more positive images of Japan than Chinese students. The diversity of their social identity correlated with their perception of Japan in terms of the respect of the Japanese for the foreign students’ cultural background. As a whole, this study implies that the social identity of foreign students plays a significant role in the formation of their perceptions of the host country, Japan. The differences in the subjective meaning of “studying in Japan” for German and Chinese students need to be investigated in connection to their personal life course in each cultural context. It is expected that an effective model of identity education promoting intercultural tolerance can be constructed on the basis of the psychological function of social identity.
