Boundaries of the unconscious, private, and public self in Japanese and Americans: a cross-cultural comparison

Since Japanese explore inner reactions less often and less thoroughly than Americans, they may be less well known to themselves than Americans ( Barnlund, 1975). The present study has examined this hypothesis by comparing self-knowledge and self-disclosure by Japanese and Americans. This is the latter part of our study on self and culture, the first part having been printed already ( Asai and Barnlund, 1993). Fourteen topics of self-disclosure were examined. Americans reported significantly higher levels of both self-knowledge and self-disclosure than Japanese. Americans reported having thought significantly more than Japanese about Grief, Religious feelings, Positive personal qualities, Physical attractiveness, and Death. In both cultures, levels of self-knowledge and self-disclosure were positively correlated, suggesting that cultures influence both knowledge of the inner self and disclosure to others. The limitation of our present approach is also briefly discussed.