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Self-help: maybe it works better in Japan
May/June 2008
by Cathy Shufro
The early-twentieth-century French psychologist and hypnotherapist
Emile Coue, who believed in positive thinking, instructed his patients to tell
themselves: Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better." (No, it
wasn't invented for the Pink Panther movies.)
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Adults are more likely than children to believe that bad traits endure.
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Evidently, young children don't need such a mantra: research by Yale
psychologist Kristi Lockhart and colleagues shows that Japanese and American
children generally believe that they're steadily improving -- becoming smarter,
kinder, or better organized. This childhood optimism fades, however. Adults of
both countries are more likely than children to believe that people's bad
traits endure.
But there's a key difference, says Lockhart. Compared with Americans,
Japanese have more confidence that people can alter negative traits.
For the study, reported in Cognitive Development in February, the researchers told subjects eight
short stories about characters hoping to change a trait. Children, ages 5-6 and
8-10, and young adults predicted whether the character would be able to change
a given trait over time. The youngest children in both cultures were the most
likely to believe that extreme positive changes would occur. Adults were less
optimistic, with Japanese adults significantly more likely than Americans to
predict positive changes.
Lockhart says the findings make sense both developmentally and
culturally. Young children believe deficits will naturally improve" as they
grow up. Japanese adults believe in the efficacy of change because it allows
them to feel that if they try hard, they will achieve culturally sanctioned
traits and therefore fit in with the group. In Japan, you don't want to be the
nail that sticks up," says Lockhart, but in the United States, we emphasize
individualism and inherent talents."
She adds that Americans may be too ready to give up hope of improving.
I think we need to recognize the kinds of changes that effort can produce." 
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