2026 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 10-22
Examined whether interaction with a variety of others would lead to the development of a sense of community, which in turn would contribute to the resilience in elementary and junior high school students. A self-administered questionnaire was given to 632 children and students (Tokyo: n=225, Nagoya: n=350, Tarama Island, Okinawa: n=57) regarding the diversity of interpersonal relationships, sense of community based on Adler’s individual psychology, and resilience. The results showed that Tokyo had the lowest scores for the experience of interacting with others and interacting with neighbors, while Tarama had the highest scores. Interaction with neighbors decreased dramatically in Tokyo and Nagoya as the school grade increased. Optimism revealed regional differences, with Tokyo having lower scores and Tarama having higher scores. Multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that the hypothesis described above was mostly plausible in Tokyo and Nagoya, but was limited for Tarama. The results confirmed that regional characteristics need to be taken into account in order to understand psychological development.
