Cultural life scripts of Japanese adolescents

Abstract

Summary A life script develops from adolescence and is influenced by culture. However, few cultural differences have been identified previously, and only a few studies have investigated the life scripts of adolescents. This is the first study to examine the life scripts of Japanese junior high and high school students. Our results identified some characteristically Japanese life events that were shared by the students, such as the “high school entrance exam,” “falling out with friends or family,” “club activities,” and the “Seijinshiki ceremony.” Peaks for particular life events in particular age groups were observed in all groups for events with “mixed” valence; these had never have been reported by previous studies. Some gender‐specific and developmental differences were also identified.

A cross‐cultural investigation of the reminiscence bumps for important personal events and word‐cued autobiographical memories

“…Toward that end, cross‐cultural studies of the cultural life script have been conducted between distinct nationalities, such as Denmark and the United States (Rubin et al, 2009), China, Denmark, Greenland, and Mexico (Zaragoza Scherman et al, 2015), Germany and Turkey (Hatiboğlu & Habermas, 2016), Australia and Malaysia (Janssen & Haque, 2018), and the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Štěpánková et al, 2020). In addition, studies examining the cultural life script with single samples have included nationalities such as Denmark (Berntsen & Rubin, 2004), Japan (Janssen et al, 2014; Kawasaki & Uehara, 2020), and the Netherlands (Janssen & Rubin, 2011). Overall, the findings have supported the stability of cultural life scripts, especially their tendency to consist mostly of emotionally positive transitional life events occurring in early adulthood that possess relatively predictable timings of occurrence.…”

Historical change in the Emirati life script

“…Research has obtained cultural life scripts in Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United States (Berntsen & Rubin, 2004; Bohn, 2010; Bohn & Bundgaard‐Nielsen, 2021; Erdoğan et al, 2008; Habermas, 2007; Hatiboğlu & Habermas, 2016; Janssen et al, 2014; Janssen & Haque, 2018; Janssen & Rubin, 2011; Kawasaki & Uehara, 2020; Ottsen & Berntsen, 2014; Özbek et al, 2021; Rubin et al, 2009; Saraiva et al, 2021; Štěpánková et al, 2020; Tekcan et al, 2012; Zaragoza Scherman et al, 2017). All studies found that life scripts were mostly positive and referred to socially important events of educational, family, and occupational life similar in most countries, as well as to culturally specific, partly religious events unique to individual countries.…”

A tale of two cultural life scripts: do young second-generation Turkish immigrants versus young Danes in Denmark perceive life through different cultural lenses?

“…Further empirical evidence in the cultural life script literature corroborates the findings regarding cultural differences. For instance, Janssen, Uemiya, and Naka (2014) and Kawasaki and Uehara (2020) found that the Japanese life scripts collected from adults and adolescent groups were mostly similar to those of European countries and the USA, but they also included events such as Seijinshiki ceremony and Shichi-go-san festival reflecting the unique aspects of the Japanese religious or spiritual traditions. Coleman (2014) found that the life scripts of African-American participants did not substantially differ from findings in earlier studies involving American, Danish, and Turkish undergraduates and of Dutch adults.…”