The effect of automatic imitation in a strategic context was examined within an East Asian culture (Japan) through a study using the game of rock-paper-scissors. The task of strategic players is to avoid imitating their opponents. Study participants (N = 42) were instructed to play the game and to win as many rounds as possible, while either or both players were blindfolded. The results revealed that sighted participants did not unconsciously imitate the gestures of blindfolded participants. Previous findings from Western populations on the effect of automatic imitation in a strategic context were thus not replicated within the present East Asian sample.

Several studies have measured basic human values across countries using the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21 and PVQ-40). However, there are few current validations that use Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with a magnifying glass strategy, and almost none in the Latin American context. The objective of this study is to validate both PVQ versions by assessing the configurational verification (MDS) and the confirmatory structure of higher values of Schwartz’s model (CFA). The validation analysis of PVQ-40 and PVQ-21 confirm the circular motivational continuum structure of values with some differences. However, PVQ-21 shows better fit indexes in terms of MDS and CFA analyses than PVQ-40. The changes in the motivational continuum circle are explained from the perspective of cultural patterns and historical events in the Argentinean context.

This is the study to report Japanese two-year longitudinal reading amount data using the Title Recognition Test (TRT) and school book borrowing (the number of books borrowed from a school library) as measures elucidating the relationship between reading amount and Japanese letter reading skill. We found separate, significant positive effects for the reading amount indices on letter reading skill both one and two years later. For the longer duration, both indices had almost the same effect. We concluded that extensive reading increases knowledge of Japanese letters (in particular, the knowledge of the connections between hiragana and kanji). In addition, distinctive features of both indices of reading amount—TRT and school book borrowing—are discussed; school book borrowing, in particular, has not been used as an index of reading amount in previous studies, so we assert its utility here.

How do cognitive strategies and focusing on negative possibilities for an upcoming event interact to affect evaluation by others or interpersonal friction in social interactions? This study compares individuals who use defensive pessimism (DP), strategic optimism (SO), or realistic/regular pessimism (RP) as a cognitive strategy. Participants (23 DPs, 22 SOs, and 14 RPs) talked with a partner (who was a confederate in the experiment) after focusing on the possibilities of a negative event in the conversation (experimental condition) or waiting for several minutes (control condition). After the conversation, participants’ perceived interpersonal friction was measured. Additionally, the confederates rated the participants’ behavior and their impression of the conversations. The results showed that negatively-focused DPs were rated better than control DPs on several dimensions of their interactions (e.g., talked to confederate). Moreover, negatively-focused RPs reported more interpersonal friction than negatively-focused DPs, although there were no differences in evaluations by the confederates.