Data shows that the Japanese are not collectivist. Let’s eliminate false stereotypes.

【Japanese people are the ones who don’t know “about Japan”… surprising fact that “Japanese people were not collectivist”.】
https://gendai.media/articles/-/116011

・Eight experiments on synchronous behavior have been conducted, and the average rate of synchrony among Americans was 25%.

・Similarly, when this experiment was conducted with Japanese, the Japanese also had an average of 25% concordance rate

・A total of 43 studies comparing Japanese with Americans were found, including these experiments on synchronous behavior as well as survey studies.

・Contrary to “common sense,” the largest number of studies (24) found “no difference between Japanese and Americans. Contrary to “common sense,” a whopping 13 studies found that “Americans are more collectivist. Only 6 studies found that “Japanese are more collectivist,” which is in line with “common sense.

・The scientific method of comparison shows that the Japanese are not particularly collectivistic.

These are quotes from the article.

No more stereotypes of Japanese as collectivists!

I think there is an image that Japanese people are group-oriented and easily sympathetic, but I am telling you that this is not true from a data point of view.

There are other articles based on data, such as the following, which show that the Japanese are not collectivists.

【Is it true that “Japan has great peer pressure”?】
https://gendai.media/articles/-/116011https://gendai.media/articles/-/85805?imp=0

・I often hear the critical opinion that “peer pressure is great,” which is evidence that Japanese people, on the contrary, dislike peer pressure.

・The image (belief) that “the Japanese are collectivistic” was created by the evaluations and impressions of many Americans who visited Japan during the Meiji era and by many American books written after World War II.

【Japanese people are under the misconception that they like to be with everyone else.】
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/422892

・According to the survey, 90% of respondents said that the Japanese are collectivist, while 50% said they are individualistic.

・Japanese people are not concerned about whether or not they are like everyone else, but how their actions appear in the eyes of others. The eyes of others is an evaluation, directly related to one’s own gain or loss.

・The true nature of group and synchronistic behavior is based on the idea that it is not beneficial to oneself if one is regarded as different from the others, rather than on the idea that one wants to act with everyone else.

I have been quoting articles all over the place.

It is clear that Japan is not particularly collectivist compared to other countries.

The stereotype that Japanese people are group-oriented and tend to act in sync is now outdated.（It’s a shame that so many people still argue with this stereotypical assumption.）

Strange beliefs can bind both thoughts and actions. This may be true at the individual, organizational, or national level.

I think we need to flatten things out and restructure a lot of things in this area once and for all.

See you then.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that collectivism and synchronistic behavior are bad. I’m just saying that a certain amount of collectivity and synchronicity is necessary. I am saying that false assumptions and stereotypes are not good.