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A Cross‐Cultural Examination of the Disjuncture Between Aspirations and Expectations/Perceived Outcomes: Strain and Academic Deviance in the United States and Japan
Author(s) -
Tedor Miyuki Fukushima,
Sharp Susan F.,
Kobayashi Emiko
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/soin.12087
Subject(s) - deviance (statistics) , empirical examination , social psychology , psychology , sociology , general strain theory , criminology , economics , actuarial science , mathematics , statistics , juvenile delinquency
Using comparable self‐reported survey data collected among college students in the United States ( n = 502) and Japan ( n = 441), this study examines a paradox of higher academic deviance among otherwise more conforming Japanese youth while revisiting the debate concerning the disjuncture between aspirations and expectations/perceived outcomes in Agnew's general strain theory ( GST ). Confirming the paradox, our results indicate that Japanese students are significantly more deviant academically than American students. However, contrary to the expectation of GST , but in support of past empirical studies, the higher academic deviance among the Japanese, as compared to Americans, is explained by their lower aspirations, irrespective of the levels of expectations/perceived outcomes