This research explored how a growth/fixed mindset influences learning motivation, particularly focusing on students’ interpretations of in-class feedback. A nine-week longitudinal study was conducted at a private university in Tokyo, in which a sample of 25 students completed a set of questions after each English class, giving a dataset of 135 cases. The students reported how they interpreted the feedback from a teacher during the lesson and how much they were motivated to invest more time and effort on English learning. Multilevel regression analysis revealed (a) a growth-oriented interpretation of the teacher’s in-class feedback increased students’ learning motivation, and (b) the above effect was stronger among the students with a more marked growth mindset. In summary, the current study confirmed that students’ learning motivation may be affected by their interpretations of teachers’ in-class feedback, especially when they have a growth mindset and their interpretation is in accordance with their mindset. The benefit of endorsing longitudinal data collection to investigate in-class interactions between teachers and students in real educational settings is discussed.

Addressing the social issues in Japan’s super-aged society requires cooperation between people of all ages. However, discrimination against older adults, resulting from a negative attitude toward them, often hinders cooperation. It is important to develop interventions to reduce such negative attitudes. This study proposes exposing individuals to counter-stereotypical textual information about older adults as a strategy for reducing negative attitudes. This is a simple intervention that can involve many participants. An online experiment was conducted with 577 Japanese participants aged 20–64 years. The results showed that negative attitudes were lower in the experimental group that received counter-stereotypical information than in the control group that read unrelated descriptions. In addition, the participants were asked to play a one-time, two-party public goods game to measure their cooperative behavior. Compared to the control group, the experimental group showed a smaller gap in points allocated to older versus younger recipients. These findings suggest that providing counter-stereotypical information about older adults can positively influence cooperative behavior toward them. However, the effect of this intervention was not large; thus, the intervention alone may not substantially reduce negative attitudes or promote cooperative behavior. Further refinement of the proposed intervention is recommended in future studies.

Traditionally characterized by interdependence, Chinese culture is shifting toward greater independence as Western influences grow. Previous research on Japan, another interdependent culture, has demonstrated “preference-expectation reversal” (Hashimoto & Yamagishi, 2015), where individuals prefer independence but expect others to prefer interdependence. This study investigates whether this reversal also occurs in China. Chinese participants (N=144) completed an online survey. The findings showed that participants overestimated others’ evaluations of interdependent individuals and underestimated their positive evaluations of independent individuals. Additionally, participants viewed their ideal self as more independent than the self they perceived others to have, indicating a preference-expectation reversal in China. The study discusses “cultural lag” as a possible explanation.

Indirect reciprocity is a mechanism where a positive reputation, derived from altruistic behavior, leads to reciprocation from third parties. However, not all third parties evaluate altruistic behavior positively. As the group size increases, people become more sensitive to third-party evaluations and, consequently, lower their expectations of reciprocity. To test this possibility, we conducted a laboratory experiment (N=111) that considered the influences of evaluative concern and expected indirect benefits. Participants first donated to a fictional non-profit organization and, later, played a trust game with a randomly selected fictional participant from a group comprising one, five, or nine people. Before donating, participants were informed that the fictional participants would evaluate their donations. Although no significant difference was found in evaluative concern for donations, expected indirect benefits in the game, donation amounts according to group size, and evaluative concern decreased donation amounts as group size increased. These findings suggest that people may adjust their awareness of evaluation and regulate their altruistic behavior based on the number of individuals evaluating their actions.

Building on the seminal work of Xu et al. (2021), our study explored the factors associated with laypeople’s decision-making in recognizing and reporting physical and psychological child abuse in Japan. We collected data from 1,485 Japanese participants. Regression analysis showed that as the seriousness of the case increased, the participants were more likely to recognize and report both mild and severe physical and psychological abuse. In contrast, participants who held stronger beliefs in strict discipline were less likely to recognize mild forms of physical and psychological abuse. Furthermore, participants with stronger subjective norms, believing that others around them would report the abuse, were more likely to report both mild and severe psychological abuse. In contrast, those with a bystander attitude, thinking that others should handle the situation and that it was not their responsibility, were less likely to report both mild and severe physical and psychological abuse. Finally, participants who had stronger fears of retaliation were less likely to report both mild and severe physical abuse and severe psychological abuse.

Expressing one’s opinion is fundamental to collaborative learning; however, it also involves exposing one’s thoughts to evaluation by others. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between public self-consciousness and predicting how others would evaluate one’s thoughts during collaborative learning. Specifically, two hypotheses were proposed: first, learners with higher public self-consciousness would estimate that their peers would evaluate their opinions more negatively; and second, that learners with high public self-consciousness and a strong sense of control would produce more positive estimates of how others would evaluate their opinions than learners with high public self-consciousness but a low sense of control. A survey was conducted among junior high school students during group work, and multiple regression analysis was performed. The results revealed a significant interaction between public self-consciousness and sense of control, but only among second-year students. Contrary to the hypotheses, a positive relationship between sense of control and learners’ predictions regarding the evaluations of others was only observed among those with low public self-consciousness. Based on these results, the study discusses the relationships between public self-consciousness or sense of control and predictions of evaluations, utterance, and listening.