Concepts of human differences: a comparison of American, Japanese, and Chinese children and adolescents

Concepts of human differences were studied among 5th and 11th graders in the United States (n = 175), Japan (n = 256), and the People's Republic of China (n = 160). Relative to their peers in the other 2 cultures, more American students noted differences in appearance and attractiveness and material resources; more Japanese students noted various physical features, and more Chinese students noted specific behaviors. On the whole, Japanese responses resembled those of the American students more closely than those of the Chinese students. With increasing age, American students reported a larger number, whereas Asian students tended to report a smaller number of distinct categories of human differences. Results are discussed in terms of cultural construals of self and theories of cognitive development.