Japanese and American Children’s Reasons for the Things They Do In School

Abstract

Japanese and American children’s reasons for achievement and good conduct in school were compared. Fifth grade children (184 American and 399 Japanese) were asked the reasons for either their actions or their feelings about adhering to or violating classroom norms. Their open-ended responses were assessed both for the type of reason—external, internal, or emphatic—and for its target—authorities (parents, teacher) versus others, such as peers or self We asked about two aspects of achievement (academic performance and academic procedures) and about two aspects of conduct (social procedures and moral norms). A closed-ended questionnaire, Why I Do Things (an early version of Connell and Ryan's Academic Self-Regulatory Style Questionnaire), was also used to assess achievement-related reasons. As expected, Japanese children were less external in both their open-ended reasons for action and their closed-ended responses; on the whole, however, they did not differ from American children where reasons for feelings were at issue. Japanese children also focused on authority figures as targets in their open-ended reasons to a much greater extent than did American children. The difference between countries regarding targets was largest for academic performance norms. The discussion focused on how the findings may reflect stronger identification with adult authority on the part of Japanese children, especially with regard to academic performance.