Concepts of Ability and Effort in Japan and the United States

Abstract

Research on concepts of ability and effort in Japan and the United States is reviewed, and three major findings are reported. First, a growing body of research conducted in both countries suggests that effort is identified as the primary determinant of achievement in Japan, whereas it receives relatively less emphasis in the U.S. in comparison to ability. Second, the concepts of ability and effort appear to differ between the two countries, along dimensions that have implications for achievement motivation. Third, Japanese homes and families appear to foster task involvement by fostering interpersonal cooperation rather than competition, avoiding salient performance evaluation, and eschewing authoritarian forms of control. These social structural arrangements may be responsible for the attributional patterns found among Japanese children.