In general, it is difficult for others to understand the peculiar manifestations of Asperger's syndrome(AS) in social and school situations, so AS patients are often met with misunderstanding and negative assessments. As a result, AS patients face difficulties in developing a positively organized concept of self. In the present study, we recruited seven adolescent patients with AS and conducted a sentence completion test (SCT) in addition to a semi-structured interview focused on the following four problems: 1) Difficulty with personal relationships, 2) Differences between oneself and others, 3) Experiences of being bullied, 4) Current status of medical therapy or counseling. The results indicated that all of the patients had insufficient awareness that their "experiences of being bullied" and the "differences between oneself and others" were caused by their own disorder. They also did not understand that this insufficient awareness might contribute to their negative concept of self. However, some of them had developed a more positive concept of self and self-awareness, skillfully adapting to their social environment with professional psychosocial support and familial (especially maternal) support, and having participated in social activities such as school attendance and employment. This emphasizes the importance of promoting the formation of positive self concept and self-awareness for AS patients.

View full abstract

The relationship between trust in Japanese people and the degree of adjustment in Chinese students in Japan was investigated. Chinese students (N=160) responded to a packet of questionnaires that included the following scales: Trust in the Japanese Scale, Trust in Chinese Students in Japan Scale, Autonomous Motivation to Study Abroad Scale, Japanese Language Proficiency Scale, and the Psychological Adjustment Scale. Results indicated that trusting Japanese people was positively related to psychological adjustment. Moreover, covariance structure analysis indicated that the effect of high autonomous motivation and Japanese language proficiency on the feeling of adjustment was significantly mediated by trust in Japanese people. Furthermore, the influences of low autonomous motivation and low Japanese language proficiency on the feeling of maladjustment were significantly mediated by distrust of Japanese people.

View full abstract

Differences in the achievement of ego identity between young people living in Japan and the United States was investigated in relation to independent - interdependent construal of self and the degree of attachment to parents. Participants were Japanese university students (n=521, men=229, women=281, gender unknown=11) and university students in western United States (n=204, men=87, women=114, gender unknown=3). The results indicated that the degree of ego identity achievement in US youth was higher than that in young Japanese people. Moreover, the independent construal of self dominated in US youth and was related to the attachment to the mother. Conversely, in Japanese youth, the interdependent construal of self was related to the attachment to the mother. Furthermore, independent construal of self significantly affected the ego identity of youth in both countries. It is suggested that the concept of ego identity, which is strongly supported by independent construal of self and is dominant in Western cultures including the US has deep roots in the West.

View full abstract