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Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?

Steven J Heine1, Darrin R Lehman, Hazel Rose Markus

  • 1U Pennsylvania.

Psychological Review
|November 24, 1999
PubMed
Summary

The need for positive self-regard is not universal, as Japanese culture emphasizes self-criticism over self-enhancement. This suggests cultural variations in self-perception and motivation.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cross-cultural psychology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • The dominant Western psychological model assumes a universal drive for positive self-regard.
  • This model posits that individuals are motivated to maintain and enhance positive self-views.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the cross-cultural generalizability of the need for positive self-regard.
  • Specifically, to investigate its applicability within Japanese culture.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of anthropological and sociological data on Japanese culture.
  • Review of empirical psychological literature on self-regard in Japan.

Main Results:

  • Japanese culture exhibits elements incongruent with the motivation for positive self-regard.
  • Empirical evidence for a need for positive self-regard among Japanese is scarce.
  • A self-critical focus appears more characteristic of the Japanese self-concept.

Conclusions:

  • The need for self-regard is culturally variant, influenced by differing constructions of self and regard.
  • The concept of positive self-regard, as typically defined, is rooted in North American cultural contexts.
  • Current interpretations of positive self-regard are too narrow to encompass the Japanese experience.

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