The present study empirically tested the conceptualization of the decentralized dynamics of the self proposed by Hermans & Kempen (1993), which they developed theoretically and from clinical cases, not from large samples of empirical data. They posited that worldviews and images of the self could vary by positioning even in the same individual, and denied that the ego was an omniscient entity that knew and controlled all aspects of the self (centralized ego). Study 1 tested their conceptualization empirically with 47 university students in an experimental group and 17 as a control group. The results showed that the scores on the Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale and images of the Mes in the experimental group significantly varied by positioning, but those in the control group did not. Similar results were found in Study 2 with a sample of 120 university students. These results empirically supported the conceptualization of the decentralized dynamics of the self.

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Five-year-old children were presented with two scenes in which one character made three stars and the other made nine stars. In one of the scenes, both characters’ facial expressions were neutral (neutral face scene), and in the other scene the character who produced three stars had a crying face (crying face scene). Children distributed different numbers of rewards to the two characters: equal to (Middle-N), less than (Small-N), or more than (Large-N) the total number of stars in each scene. Then the children were asked for their reason after they distributed the rewards. It was found that (a) the participants’ distributions depended on the total number of rewards but (b) not on the characters’ facial expressions, and (c) the justifications of their distributions in the Middle-N condition were different between the scenes. These results suggest that the total number of rewards triggers an automatic distribution process, and that an ex post facto justification takes place when needed.

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This study investigated the relationship between autonomous motivation and academic adjustment based on the perspective of self-determination theory. It also examined motivational profiles to reveal individual differences and the characteristic of these profiles for groups with varying levels of autonomous and controlled regulation (autonomous, controlled, high motivation, and low motivation). Data were collected from 442 junior high school students for academic motivation, academic performance, academic competence, meta-cognitive strategy, academic anxiety, apathy, and stress experience. Correlation analyses generally supported the basic hypothesis of self-determination theory that a more autonomous regulation style was strongly related to academic adjustment. The results also showed that persons with a high autonomous regulation and a low controlled regulation style were the most adaptive.

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People tend to show some types of interpersonal behavior after feeling gratitude: reciprocal behavior, expression of apology, expression of thanks, and prosocial behavior. We examined the mechanism of these behaviors in 304 undergraduate students who were presented with three types of situations that produce gratitude: receiving help, receiving gifts, or imposing on others. We asked participants to rate three types of cognitive appraisals (receiving favor, cost to benefactor, naturalness of the situation), two types of emotional experiences of gratitude (contentment, apologetic emotion), and four types of interpersonal behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that receiving benefit basically facilitated reciprocal behavior, prosocial behavior, and expression of thanks. Furthermore, the cost to the benefactor basically facilitated expression of apology. However, some effects of cognitive appraisal and emotional expression on behaviors differed among the types of situations. In particular, the results for imposing on others were different from the other situations. These results are discussed related to the different characteristics of the types of situations.

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This study investigates characteristics of burnout, as related to job descriptions in mental hospitals and presuppositions of the concept of burnout (burnout is caused as a result of having enthusiasm for a job). The results of a questionnaire survey (burnout tendency, Japanese Burnout Scale, enthusiasm for a job in the past, modified Enthusiasm scale) with 781 workers at mental hospitals showed that burnout characteristics varied according to job descriptions. Specifically, psychiatric social workers, medical assistants, and nurses fell into the high-burnout category, whereas doctors, occupational therapists, and pharmacists fell into the low-burnout category. In addition, in order to compare enthusiasm for a job in the past with current burnout tendencies, factor scores for the respective scales were classified into a low group or a high group and were cross tabulated. The numbers in the cells of the groups indicating the opposite of the definition of burnout (low enthusiasm-high burnout tendency, high enthusiasm-low burnout tendency) were larger. This indicates that having enthusiasm for a job is not a direct factor for burnout, which is different from the presupposition about burnout.

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This study provides evidence for the organization of bilingual conceptual representations in terms of second-language proficiency and the similarity between the two languages. Two bilingual groups (Japanese-English and Japanese-Korean) of participants were assigned a free recall task with a category list. The list consisted of 36 items from different levels of typicality, which were presented in the first or second language. The occurrence of category clustering varied according to typicality for the two groups. Among Japanese-English participants, Japanese representations were better organized than English items for participants with less-proficient levels of English, but this changed to a semantic network between the two languages with increasing second-language proficiency. Conversely, Japanese-Korean bilinguals established a semantic network with the two languages even at the beginner level with the second language. These findings indicate that both similarity between languages and second-language proficiency exert a strong effect in constructing a network in conceptual systems.

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As interest in meaning making following stressful life experiences continues to grow, it is important to clarify the features and functions of the meaning- making process. We examined the influence of meaning making following stressful life experiences on change of self-concept. In two studies, university students selected their most stressful life experience and completed the Assimilation and Accommodation of Meaning Making Scale. In Study 1, 235 university students also completed questionnaires regarding post-traumatic growth and positive change of the sense of identity following their stressful life experience. The results of covariance structure analysis indicated that accommodation promoted a positive change of self-concept. In Study 2, 199 university students completed questionnaires regarding change of self-concept and emotion as a positive or negative change following stressful life experiences. The results of covariance structure analysis indicated that accommodation promoted a positive change, similar to the results of Study 1. In addition, accommodation also promoted negative change. However, assimilation did not promote positive change but did restrain negative change.

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The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is one of the most popular tasks in experimental studies of insight in psychological and neuroscience studies. Since the RAT was originally developed for English-speaking countries, we developed a Japanese version of the RAT. This paper provides a brief overview of the structure of the task based on chunk decomposition using Japanese kanji characters and a list of sets of words as experimental stimuli, with representative data for experimental studies of insight.

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Research on temporal comparisons has revealed that people’s memories about their past selves or past relationships are negatively biased, and indicated that such bias leads to greater satisfaction with their present self or relationships. The present study explored whether such downward temporal comparisons occur with regard to memories of new-student orientation, and examined its effects on freshmen’s later university adjustment in terms of loneliness, self-esteem, and identification with the university. Female freshmen (N=101) participated in three-wave panel survey. At Time 2 and Time 3, participants’ retrospective evaluations of new student orientation were more negative than their actual evaluations at Time 1, indicating a downward temporal comparison. Moreover, hierarchical regression analysis revealed that more negative retrospective evaluations at Time 2 were associated with less loneliness and higher self-esteem at Time 3. Identification with the university was not affected by temporal comparisons.

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The effect of knowledge about the results of movements (KR) and self-estimates about such results were investigated. In a 2×2 factorial design, participants (N=61) first practiced a coordination motor task. Then they either estimated or did not estimate the results of previous movements they made. During acquisition, participants were provided KR either after every response, or after every third response. A no-KR retention test revealed an interaction between KR frequencies and self-estimates about the results of movements. When participants did not estimate the results of movements made during acquisition, retention was enhanced in the low KR frequency condition, compared to the high KR frequency condition. However, when participants did estimate the results of movements, high KR enhanced retention more than low KR.

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