Japanese Control Strategies Regulated by Urgency and Interpersonal Harmony

Abstract

People use control strategies to improve their physical as well as interpersonal situations. Previous research has maintained that Japanese, compared with North Americans, are more oriented toward secondary control (changing oneself) than primary control (changing one’s circumstances). However, Heckhausen and Schulz’s work suggests dominance of primary control over secondary control across cultures. The conflicting views regarding Japanese control orientations are reconciled by considering situational variation. Based on an extended framework of primary control, two empirical studies examined the alternative hypothesis that control orientation would be affected by perceived urgency and concern about harmony maintenance. Study 1 used open-ended questions (n = 171) to validate the extended primary control taxonomy, and revealed that participants’ control orientations were influenced by their subjective urgency of control and perceived difficulty in maintaining interpersonal harmony. Study 2 (n = 246) replicated the latter results with Likert-type scale ratings. These results support the extended framework of primary control and identify two situational predictors of control orientation.

How Do Coworkers “Make the Place”? Examining Coworker Conflict and the Value of Harmony in China and the United States

“…Harmony refers to the extent to which an individual values peaceful and concordant interpersonal relationships. Individuals with high harmony give priority to social relationships, strive to maintain them (Oyserman et al, ; Sawaumi, Yamaguchi, Park, & Robinson, ), and have high tolerance for interpersonal transgressions (Leung, ). As a major value in China (Chen, ), harmony serves as a guiding principle for interpersonal behaviours (Hwang, ), but it has received limited attention in research that examines coworker relationships (Leung, ).…”

“…Harmony as a unidimensional construct has been validated in both eastern and western studies (e.g. Sawaumi et al, ; Schwartz, ), such as with samples from 49 nations (Schwartz, ). Originating from China, the cultural value of harmony endorses a favourable relationship amongst people, things, and/or ideas (Li, ).…”

“…disintegration avoidance) was positively related to conflict avoidance in China. Likewise, Sawaumi et al () found that when there was a high concern for harmony, Japanese participants (from another eastern country that values harmony) were more likely to try to change their own thoughts and behaviours than attempt to influence another party to change. As a result, we proposed that harmony will buffer the positive relationship between (low levels of) coworker interpersonal justice and coworker conflict in China.…”

Coping With Uprooting Stress During Domestic Educational Migration in China

“…In fact, some recent research has found that Asians may prefer to use a primary coping control as opposed to secondary coping (Sawaumi, Yamaguchi, Park, & Robinson, 2015). A recent study by English et al (2015), found that secondary coping was adaptive for both Westerners and (non-Chinese) Asians living in China.…”

The stress of studying in China: primary and secondary coping interaction effects

“…Among American college students in California, Lam and Zane ( 2004 ) found that Asian Americans used secondary coping more often than European Americans, while Euro-Americans used more primary coping. Secondary coping seems to be more strongly associated with Asian ethnic groups as opposed to Western (or non-Asian) groups, however one recent study found that Asians (Japanese students) may in fact prefer primary controls (see recent study by Sawaumi et al 2015 ).…”