The Japanese Journal of Personality 2022, Vol. 30 No. 3, 135–143

Interpersonal emotion regulation is a type of emotion regulation using social resources such as social support. Previous studies suggest that interpersonal emotion regulation tendencies are individually different. Williams et al. (2018) developed the Interpersonal Regulation Questionnaire (IRQ) as a tool to measure individual tendencies. In the present study, we develop the Japanese version of the IRQ and test its validity and reliability. According to the results, the Japanese IRQ version comprises four subscales, akin to the original IRQ. Each subscale has enough internal and test–retest reliability and acceptable concurrent validity. The results also demonstrate that two subscales of the IRQ contribute to the adaptive effect of emotional social support in emotion regulation. The use of IRQ would lead to more efficient and effective intervention practices focusing on social support.

Recently, many researchers have focused on generativity as a psychosocial task in old age as well as middle age. In this study, we developed a revised Japanese version of the Generativity Scale (JGS-R), which measures multiple aspects of generativity among elderly people, and investigated its reliability and validity. The items were constructed based on the Japanese version of the Generativity Scale (Ohba et al., 2013). JGS-R was administered to 1,393 elderly people living in urban areas. Exploratory factor analysis revealed the following three factors: generative “action,” “concern,” and “accomplishment.” The factor validity was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. All three factor-based subscales showed high internal consistency. Furthermore, each subscale score of the JGS-R showed significant positive correlations with the frequency of conversation with other generations, provision of instrumental and emotional support for other generations, and supportive behavior for child rearing in the community, which support criterion-related validity.

In this study, we conducted comparative experiments to examine the role of online psychological support using avatar communication with abundant nonverbal communication and less face-to-face contact. Most participants in the experiments were students. In experiment one, twenty-two participants experienced and examined two types of psychological interviews: one with an animated avatar and another with a non-animated avatar. The mean value was analyzed using a paired t-test. The results indicated the effectiveness of psychological support using avatar communication and abundant nonverbal communication with a psychologist. In experiment two, twenty-four participants experienced and examined two types of psychological interviews: one with an avatar and another with real-person video communication. The mean value was analyzed using a paired t-test. The results highlight the effectiveness of psychological support using avatar communication despite less face-to-face contact with a psychologist. These experiments suggest the applicability of avatar communication in online psychological support.

In the 2×2 achievement goal model, there is no apparent difference between mastery-avoidance goals and mastery-approach goals in their effects on behavioral indicators. This study aimed to use the Wisconsin card sorting task to examine whether people who pursue mastery-avoidance goals delay reaction times only after giving a wrong answer. Participants included 140 university and post-graduate students. We prepared four conditions in which instructions manipulated mastery-avoidance goals, mastery-approach goals, performance-avoidance goals, and control. We examined the effects of manipulated achievement goals, including correct and incorrect responses before one trial on reaction times using the generalized linear mixed model postulated on the ex-Gaussian distribution for reaction times. Results showed that participants assigned the mastery-avoidance goals condition delayed their reaction times only when they answered incorrectly. Such a delay in reaction time was not present under any other condition.

In recent years, with the widespread use of smartphones, many people have begun to take selfies and embellish them to be more attractive using smartphone applications. The present study examined the effects of embellishment of facial selfies on self-esteem and positive mood. Sixty-two university students participated in the experiment and were assigned to one of two conditions (embellishing condition or control condition). The participants took facial selfies, embellished them, and then measured their self-esteem and positive mood. The results showed that self-esteem increased more in the embellishing condition than in the control condition. The positive mood was slightly higher in the embellishing condition than in the control condition only for the group with high facial self-evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics related to participation status in the Ibaraki Cohort Study and discuss ways to support the continuation of the survey. Although there were no significant differences in age or number of pregnant weeks among the registration group, dropout group, and continuation group, the results of binomial logistic analysis showed that the number of consulting partners were related to survey continuation (p<.10). It was suggested that connection with others was important for the continuation of the survey.

This research developed the Japanese version of the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire (RFQ-J). RFQ is based on regulatory focus theory that distinguishes between two types of self-control: Promotion focus and Prevention focus. Promotion focus emphasizes hopes and accomplishments, whereas prevention focus emphasizes safety and responsibility. 181 undergraduates completed RFQ-J, and scales for examinations of validity. The result of factor analysis showed RFQ-J has the same two-factor structure as the original. Internal consistency was adequate. The correlations between RFQ-J and the scales for validity were consistent with previous studies.

With the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), citizens have had to comply with the guidelines to prevent infection and the spread of COVID-19. However, not all citizens have been compliant with the guidelines. Based on Zitek and Schlund (2021), we hypothesized that people higher in psychological entitlement would report less compliance with the guidelines, and this relationship would be mediated by less concern for others. We conducted surveys in April 2021 whose results (n=250) supported these hypotheses.

This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the Adult Disorganized Attachment (ADA) scale for romantic relationships. The target of the analyses was 183 college students who had experienced romantic relationships. The study found that (a) adult attachment disorganization measured by the ADA consisted of one component and had sufficient internal consistency, and (b) adult attachment disorganization had a unique influence on aggression and depression, in addition to the effect of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. Therefore, the Japanese version of the ADA demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of reliability and validity.

In the last decade, there has been increased interest in understanding how individuals monitor their memory for emotionally valenced information. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in remembering emotionally valenced information lead to different cues being used for monitoring. In this study, we examined whether depression level as an individual difference affects the monitoring of memory for emotional valence. The results showed that the high-dysphoria group rated the likelihood of recalling negative words higher than the low-dysphoria group did. In contrast, the low-dysphoria group rated positive words as more likely to be recalled later than neutral and negative words. Thus, depression was more sensitive to negative information during monitoring. This suggests that cognitive bias specific to depression also affects the monitoring of memory. Future research should further investigate the interaction between mood state and emotional valence of items.

We replicated the study by Horberg et al. (2009) with Japanese participants. Following their study procedures, we investigated the correspondence of the moral areas with emotions, specifically purity violations with disgust and justice violations with anger. The associations of political conservatism and Socioeconomic Status (SES) with disgust, respectively, were also tested. Unique to this replication study, we explored whether individuals’ motivation to communicate with others was stronger for justice violations than for purity violations. Most of the results were consistent with those of the original study. Our findings contribute to better understanding of the morality-emotion link.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the use of online games and the helping behavior of university students. First, we divided online games into two types, cooperative and competitive. We then examined the relationship between whether online games were used and helping behavior and the relationship between the time spent playing online games and helping behavior. The survey was conducted among 134 students at a private university in the Kansai region. The results of multiple regression analysis showed no significant relationship between game use and helping behavior scores regardless of the type of online game. Analyses focusing on the game usage time showed that the longer the usage time of competitive games, the significantly lower the helping behavior scores were. Still, no such relationship was found for cooperative games. The game usage time significantly correlated with helping behavior, and the relationship between the game usage time and helping behavior differed depending on the type of game used.

It has been proposed that the hierarchical structure of personality contains a general factor, representing the shared variance of lower-order personality traits, such as the Big Five. This general factor of personality (GFP) reflects a mix of socially desirable traits. There is a scientific debate on whether the GFP mere arises due to measurement artifact (e.g., social desirability bias), or whether it is largely substantive. In the substantive view of the GFP, the factor is proposed to be mainly social effectiveness or resilience. In the present article we focus on advancements on GFP research in two applied areas, namely occupational behavior and clinical psychology. We discuss research showing that, in the work domain, the GFP positively relates to supervisor-rated and objective job performance, and leadership. In line with the social-effectiveness account, the GFP also is associated with more interest in social jobs. In the clinical domains, low GFP scores have shown to be related to a wide range of psychopathologies and difficulties in dealing with everyday life. In conclusion, we argue that the GFP may have significant theoretical and practical implications.