view persons in a hierarchically oriented social group. Modernization,
which brings an increased need for knowledge of other peoples, has brought
as well a strong sense of competition—a desire to know where one stands, or
where one's nation stands relative to other nations in technological and
other areas of development. This desire to know one's position and the
tendency to view other nations hierarchically are probably found to some
degree in all modern societies, but may be exaggerated among those nations
that are in the middle ranks in the competitive race for modernization—and
particularly in those societies which have incorporated into their own
culture a strong hierarchical conception of status.
Thus, in societies with hierarchical patterns, there will occur
certain established techniques which are defined as appropriate for
governing behavior toward the nationals of countries judged either to be
higher or lower than that of the actor. On the other hand, for societies
with egalitarian ideals of social relations, while there may be a tendency
in the national popular ideology to view other nations hierarchically in
terms of power and progress, there will be no ready behavioral pattern to
follow toward individual members of these other societies. Ideally,
regardless of national origin, individuals will be considered as "human
beings," theoretically equal. Such theoretical equality is often violated
in practice, of course, but the violations are based not on systematic
hierarchical conceptions, but on transitory and situationally determined
attitudes.
The Japanese tendency to locate other nations on a hierarchical scale
is well known, and is observable even at the level of formal diplomatic
interchange. With respect to the Japanese attitude toward the United
States, the tendency toward a superordinate status percept is very strong
—although qualified and even reversed in certain contexts (American arts
and literature have been viewed as of questionable merit, for example) and
in certain historical periods. The historical basis for this generally high-
status percept may be found in America's historic role in the opening of
Japan; in the use of America as a model for much of Japan's modernization;
and in the participation and guidance of the United States in reform and
reconstruction during the Occupation. America, though not always a country
for which the Japanese feel great affection, has come to be a symbol of
many of Japan's aspirations, as well as a "tutor" whom the "pupil" must
eventually excel (or even conquer). Therefore, whatever the specific
affectual response, we have found that the Japanese student subjects often
perceived America as deserving of respect or at least respect-avoidance
(enryo), and were further inclined to project this image onto the American
individual. Evidence of these views available in our research data is
sampled at the end of this section, in the form of quotations from
interviews.
Within tolerable limits of generally, America may be specified as a
society in which egalitarian interpersonal relationships are the ideal
pattern and, in tendency at least, the predominant pattern of behavior. But
in the United States, especially as the country emerges from political
isolation, there also has appeared a tendency to rate other nations in a
rough hierarchical order. Thus, some European nations in the spheres of
art, literature, and the manufacture of sports cars would be acclaimed by
many Americans as superior, and Americans are increasingly concerned about
their technological position vis-a-vis Russia. However, this tendency to
rate other nations hierarchically does not automatically translate itself
into code of behavior for Americans to follow toward the people of other
countries, as is the case for many Japanese. It may leave the social
situation a little confused for the Americans, but in the background of
thinking for many individual Americans is the notion that in social
relations people should be treated initially as equals.
A CULTURAL MODEL OF INTERACTION
When a person from a national society with hierarchical tendencies
encounters a person from a society with egalitarian tendencies, and
moreover when the country of the latter is generally "high" in the
estimation of the former, the idealized paradigm as shown in Figure 1 would
be approximated. In this diagram, X, the person from a country with
egalitarian views, behaves toward Y, the person from a hierarchically
oriented country, as if he occupied the same "level"; that is, in
equalitarian terms.
Figure 1.
But Y perceives X in a high-status position X1, "above" X's image of
his own status in the relationship. Since from Y's point of view X does not
behave as he "ought" to—he behaves as an equal rather than as a superior—Y
may be expected to feel confusion and disorientation. The confusion can be
resolved readily only by Y's assuming an equal status with X, or by X's
assuming the position X1 assigned to him by Y; i.e., either by closing or
by validating the "arc of status-cue confusion" shown by the arrow.
The reader will note that in effect we have already substituted
"average American" for X, and "average Japanese" for Y. We have found that
the diagram has been meaningful as an ideal model for the analysis of
interaction patterns between Japanese and Americans. In many cases the
conditions denoted by the diagram were actually found: Americans do behave
toward Japanese as equals, while the Japanese perceive the Americans as,
and in some cases expect them to behave like, superiors. In this ideal
situation since the Japanese is generally not able to respond as an equal,
and since withdrawal and distant respect are proper behavior both for
interaction with superiors and for interaction in situations where status
is ambiguous, he simply retires into enryo and communication is impaired.
This model does much to explain what many educators and foreign student
counsellors have come to feel as "typical" behavior of the shy, embarrassed
Japanese student on the American campus.
A revealing interchange on the matter of status imagery by some twelve
Japanese sojourner students was recorded during a two-hour group discussion
planned by the project but not attended by Americans. A translation of part
of this interchange follows.
M: As I see it, Japanese think of Americans as nobility. So, it is
hard to accept invitations because of the status difference.
K: I don't agree fully. Americans are not nobility to us, but they do
have a higher social status, so that it is hard to accept invitations. But
there is a "category" of persons who are known and placed as "foreign
students," and we can take advantage of this general foreign student status
and go to American homes and places.
N: During foreign student orientation we came and went as we desired
as "foreign students." But here, as an individual person, I have felt it
necessary to return invitations which are extended to me, and this I find
very difficult since I have no income and must return the invitation in a
manner suited to the status of the person.
M: Only if the invitation is from Americans who we can accept as
status equals to us should it be returned. . . . American table manners are
difficult to learn, and it is a problem similar to that encountered by
anyone who attempts to enter a higher social class in Japan. . . . Japanese
just can't stand on an equal footing with Americans. ... I wouldn't want an
American janitor to see my house in Japan. It is so miserable.
N: Why? That seems extreme.
M: Because I have social aspirations. I am a "climber." A Japanese
house in Tokyo is too dirty to invite an American to—for example, could I
invite him to use my poor bathroom? (General laughter)
At a later point in the discussion, the following emerged:
Mrs. N: I have watched American movies in Japan and in the United
States I have seen American men—and they all look like Robert Taylor. No
Japanese men look like Robert Taylor.
M: Again I say it is not a matter of beauty, but one of status.
Mrs. N: No, it is not status—not calculation of economic worth or
anything —but of beauty. Americans are more beautiful—they look nicer than
Japanese.
U: It is the same in other things. Americans look nice, for example,
during an oral examination in college. They look more attractive. Japanese
look down, crushed, ugly.
At a still later point, one of the discussants embarked on a long
monologue on the ramifications of the status problem. Part of this
monologue runs as follows:
A high-status Japanese man going out with American girls knows
something of what he must do—for example, he must be polite—but he does not
know the language so he can be no competition to American men, who will be
superior. In an emergency, for example, the Japanese male regresses to
Japanese behavior. Great Japanese professors are embarrassed for the first
few months in the United States because they can't even beat American
college juniors in sociable behavior or expression of ideas. They don't
know the language, they feel inferior. These people, forgetting that they
were unable "to defeat America, become highly antagonistic to the United
States. . . .They reason that Japan must be superior, not inferior to the
United States, because they are unable to master it. While in America, of
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