Premium
Reactions to Morphological Deviance: A Comparison of Japanese and American Children and Adolescents
Author(s) -
Crystal David S.,
Watanabe Hirozumi,
Chen Ru San
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9507.00110
Subject(s) - psychology , eleventh , deviance (statistics) , developmental psychology , yearbook , collectivism , social psychology , conformity , individualism , statistics , physics , mathematics , library science , computer science , acoustics , political science , law
Fifth and eleventh graders in the United States (n = 175) and Japan (n = 257) were asked to describe and explain their reactions to obesity and facial disfigurement, both as a deviant member (one having these forms of morphological deviance) and as an interactant member (a normal child interacting with the deviant peer) of a group of 5 children. In the obesity scenario, the group was going shopping for clothes. In the facial disfigurement scenario, the group was having their photographs taken for the school yearbook. In both cultures for both scenarios, negative emotions predominated when students took the deviant role. As interactants, more Japanese than American respondents expressed positive and inclusive attitudes toward the deviant child. Developmental differences varied by culture. Most notable was the tendency of Japanese eleventh graders to become similar to their American counterparts in their decreasing willingness to participate with, include, and be influenced by their peers. Results are discussed in terms of Goffman’s (1963) model of ‘stigma’ and the individualism‐collectivism paradigm.