Vol.22,No.1 August, 2006

Title

Parents' narcissism and aggression against children: When parents attribute misfortune to their child

Author

Osamu FUKUSHIMA (Faculty of Humanities/Center for Transdisciplinary Research, Niigata University)
Kouzou IWASAKI (Niigata University of Health and Welfare)
Shin-ichiro AOKI (Faculty of Welfare, Iwate Prefectural University)
Junkou KIKUCHI (Integrative Counseling Center of Iwate Prefecture)

Summary

Because of the vulnerability of their self-evaluation, narcissists are more apt than non-narcissists to attack a person who threatens their self-evaluation (Baumeister, Smart, & Borden, 1996). On the basis of this model, it was hypothesized that the more narcissistic parents would more often attack their children only when they strongly attribute not being able to show their abilities (i.e., threat to their self-evaluation) to their children. A hierarchical regression analysis of the self-report data from 626 sampled parents supported the hypothesis, showing that among the high attribution parents the more narcissistic reported more attacks on their children, but, among the middle or the low attribution parents, narcissism did not significantly correlate with reported attacks. The moderator effects of attribution on narcissists' aggression against their children were discussed.

Key words

narcissism, aggression, self-evaluation, parenting, child abuse

Title

The effects of personal mobility of group members on both in-group collaboration and members' identity in a subordinate group

Author

Yumiko TARESAWA and Yukio HIROSE (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University)

Summary

It has been demonstrated in previous research that the -gpermeability" of a group boundary influences the members' intention to act collectively as well as their group identity in a subordinate group. In this research, how personal -gmobility" of group members affected both in-group collaboration and members' identity was investigated by adopting the -gsimulated international society game." Each of 344 undergraduates was assigned randomly to one of dominant or subordinate groups with either high or low levels of mobility. Eight games were played in all, and each undergraduate participated in only one of the games. The results indicated that members of both dominant and subordinate groups with low mobility collaborated within their own groups more frequently than those with high mobility. At the same time, members of the subordinate group with low mobility achieved relatively more positive identity than those with high mobility.

Key words

personal mobility of group members, positive social identity, in-group collaboration, simulated international society game

Title

Factors affecting the intensity of a sense of transparency: A study of attention to self and other-perspective-taking

Author

Naoya TABATA (Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba)

Summary

There has been little research to date concerning the sense produced when one's inner self is seen by others. Defining the sense that, although not intentionally expressed, others know one's inner self as a -esense of transparency,' this study examines factors that affect the intensity of this sense, which is hypothesized here to be a tendency to direct attention to oneself and take the perspective of others. Participants were asked to solve conflict problems in ways that would not reflect their own characteristics and to evaluate the extent to which their replies would reveal their inner selves. Results suggested self-consciousness and public self-consciousness were related to senses of transparency. Study 2, which investigated senses of transparency in terms of one's characteristics, indicated that while public self-consciousness was related to both negative and positive senses of transparency, private self-consciousness was not related to senses of transparency. However, the hypothesis that perspective-taking also influenced senses of transparency was little supported by this study.

Key words

sense of transparency, attention to self, perspective-taking, positivity of inner self, conflict problems

Title

Motivation and strategies in stereotype suppression: Their classifications and relations

Author

Tomoko OE, Takashi OKA, and Takashi YOKOI (Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo)

Summary

Two studies were conducted to classify motivation and strategies for suppressing stereotypes of women, to identify relations between motivation and strategies, and to examine if they are related to sexism. In Study 1, students' statements as to motivation and strategies for suppressing stereotypes of women in an open-ended questionnaire were classified qualitatively. On the basis of these classifications, in Study 2, we developed measures of stereotype suppression and administered them to 390 students. Exploratory factor analyses yielded two factors for motivation (-gdenial of prejudice" and -gmaintenance of norm or relation") and two factors for strategies (-gapproach" and -gavoidance"). A path analysis revealed that -gmaintenance of norm or relation" increased the adoption of -gavoidance," whereas -gdenial of prejudice" decreased the adoption of -gavoidance" and increased the adoption of -gapproach." Sexism was negatively correlated with -gdenial of prejudice," negatively correlated with -gmaintenance of norm or relation" for male students, and positively correlated with -gavoidance" for female students. Results were discussed in terms of the promotion and reduction of stereotype activation by means of stereotype suppression.

Key words

stereotype, suppression, motivation, strategy, sexism

Title

Genetic and environmental influences on general trust: A test of a theory of trust with behavioral genetic and evolutionary psychological approaches

Author

Chizuru SHIKISHIMA (Graduate School of Human Relations, Keio University)
Kai HIRAISHI (College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Juko ANDO (Faculty of Letters, Keio University)

Summary

With the twin method, we tested the theory of general trust. Among data collected on 1,040 twins, data from 328 pairs of identical twins and 103 pairs of same-sex fraternal twins were analyzed to examine genetic and environmental influences on the general trust level. A univariate genetic analysis showed that genetic factors and nonshared environmental factors accounted for 36-“ and 64-“ of the phenotypic variance of general trust respectively, while shared environmental factors did not contribute to it. This supports the argument that the general trust level is set responding to individual social circumstances, not by familial circumstances. A substantial degree of correlation between general trust and extraversion suggested that high trusters were more extraverted, which could support the emancipation theory of trust. Finally, a multivariate genetic analysis demonstrated that there is no genetic factor contributing specifically to general trust. All the genetic factors were shared by general trust and other personality traits, i.e., hostility, positive emotions, warmth, and altruism. The results suggested that heritability of general trust observed with the univariate analysis was a -greactive heritability" from personality traits. The implication of the data from the evolutionary psychological viewpoint is discussed.

Key words

trust, personality, twin, behavioral genetics, evolution

Title

The development of social capital in communities in an online game: A perspective on a -gspill over" effect into the offline world

Author

Tetsuro KOBAYASHI and Ken'ichi IKEDA (The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology)

Summary

The development of social capital in an online community was investigated by creating survey data of online game players. The results showed that the frequency of collective communication, the homogeneity of members, and the openness of the online community had positive effects on trust, while the size of community and community hierarchy had negative effects. This shows that participation in online communities can create social capital. Furthermore, the results showed that online social capital influences real-life behavior. For example, reciprocity online facilitated offline social participation, even after controlling for offline social capital and other real-life determinants. These results demonstrate the positive contribution of collective online communication to a democratic social system.

Key words

social capital, trust, reciprocity, online community, computer-mediated communication

Title

The effects of face-to-face, mobile phone, and Short Message Service (SMS) communication on maintaining friendships: Examining the suitability of communication media and content

Author

Kaichiro FURUTANI (Graduate School of Biosphere Sciences, Hiroshima University)
Kiriko SAKATA (Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University)

Summary

In this research, we considered in what way face-to-face, mobile phone, and Short Message Service (SMS) modes of communication are associated with the relationship satisfaction of same-sex friends. Specifically, from a media and content suitability perspective, we investigated 9 modes of communication, 3 media (face-to-face, mobile phone, and SMS)-~3 types of content (task, emotional, and consummatory), and their association to relationship satisfaction. The results showed that relationship satisfaction and mode of communication were different for friendships where the partners were physically near each other and could see each other face to face even daily (short-distance friendship) and friendships where partners were physically separated and could only rarely meet face to face (long-distance friendship). Primarily, for short-distance friendships, a positive relation was observed for face-to-face consummatory communication and relationship satisfaction. Additionally, for long-distance friendships, SMS consummatory communication had a positive relationship with relationship satisfaction. We looked at these results from interpersonal research and communication research perspectives.

Key words

mobile phone, short message service, communication, friendship

Title

The function of having a "lucky charm": The relationships between donor and recipient

Author

Ayumu ARAKAWA (Institute of Human Sciences, Ritsumeikan University)
Koshi MURAKAMI (Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University)

Summary

We investigated why people own lucky charms. One hundred ninety-eight students answered our questionnaire. The results showed that ownership of lucky charms is not entirely related to the desire to connect to a transcendental power; people have lucky charms because they have received them as gifts from family and friends; family and friends give lucky charms when they cannot provide other forms of support directly; the gift of a charm is usually from an older person to a younger person; the relationship between the donor and the recipient affects the type of charm given. These results suggest that donors may give lucky charms to allay their anxiety, and that lucky charms act as a reminder of the donor's support of the recipient in times of trouble.

Key words

lucky charm, social support, family, folk belief