Agency and Communion Related to Mental Health in Japanese Young Adults

Abstract

Based on Bakan's (1966) theory, Helgeson (1994) presented a conceptual model of the relationships of biological sex, agency, and communion with psychological and physical well-being. This study was designed to examine the relationships of mitigated and unmitigated agency (M, M-) /communion (F, F-) with mental health in Japanese young adults. Participants were 602 (247 men, 355 women) undergraduate students and vocational school students in Japan. The average age of the participants was 20.0 years (SD=4.1). The results showed that communion (F) was positively associated with social support, unmitigated communion (F-) was strongly and positively associated with dysphoria for both men and women, unmitigated agency (M-) was also positively associated with dysphoria for women, and agency (M) was negatively associated with dysphoria for women. Both M and F were positively associated and F-was negatively associated with selfesteem for both men and women. M may moderate F-, and social support may moderate M-, for women. Thus our findings partially supported Helgeson's model.

The effect of adolescents' image of parents on children's self-image and mental health

“…These differences may be explained by the higher conformist expectation for girls than boys in Japan. The Japanese social structure approves higher ‘agency’ traits of self‐assertiveness, leadership and strong decision‐making for boys, but higher ‘communion’ human relationship traits of altruism, devotion and sensitivity for girls (Hirokawa & Dohi, 2007), as in most cultures. The differential child‐rearing practice in sensitivity may explain girls’ higher perceived emotional support from parents compared to boys.…”

Premenstrual Symptoms in Young Japanese Women: Agency, Communion and Lifestyle Habits

“…Communion is generally not related to health outcomes, whereas unmitigated communion is linked to negative health outcomes in US (Helgeson and Fritz 1999). In a study of young Japanese adults, unmitigated communion was most strongly associated with dysphoria (Hirokawa and Dohi 2007).…”

A társadalmi nem összefüggései a krónikus testi betegségek kialakulásával és lefolyásával

“…Egészséges egyetemi hallgatók körében végzett vizsgálatban (Danoff-Burg, Mosher, & Grant, 2006;Mosher & Danoff-Burg, 2008) a distressz a TK és a TT személyeknél egészségkárosító magatartással (kontrollálatlan evés, túl vakmerő autóvezetés, szerhasználat) is párosult. A TK, valamint a TT, továbbá az általános negatív affektivitás és a depresszió kapcsolata egészséges személyeknél is megmutatkozott (Aubé, 2008;Bruch, 2002;Hirokawa & Dohi, 2007;Jin, Yperen, Sanderman, & Hagedoorn, 2010).…”