Socialization for Achievement: Essays on the Cultural Psychology of the Japanese

Socialization for Achievement: Essays on the Cultural Psychology of the Japanese by George A. De Vos offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary exploration of how Japanese culture shapes individual motivation, achievement, and social conformity, drawing on decades of research integrating psychology, anthropology, and sociology. It examines cultural traditions, child-rearing practices, and enduring familial obligations that cultivate deeply internalized needs for accomplishment and self-justification. The volume explores the dynamics of obligation and endurance that anchor Japanese society even amid rapid modernization, using psychological testing to highlight cultural continuities in shaping motivation and social identity across generations and settings. It also delves into the darker terrain of deviance, delinquency, and alienation, illustrating how Japan's strong culture of obligation produces patterned forms of failure and marginalization. De Vos argues that Japanese society exemplifies a distinctive form of "socialization for achievement" that tempers institutional transformation, resulting in both extraordinary economic growth and persistent psychological strain. By combining psychoanalytic perspectives with sociological theory, this landmark collection not only illuminates Japan but also advances a general theory of how cultural traditions mediate socialization, achievement, and deviance in human societies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 622 pages
Publication date: 13 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

Socialization for Achievement: Essays on the Cultural Psychology of the Japanese by George A. De Vos is a comprehensive interdisciplinary exploration of how Japanese culture influences individual motivation, achievement, and social conformity. Drawing on decades of research integrating psychology, anthropology, and sociology, De Vos situates Japanese socialization patterns within a broader theoretical framework for understanding human development. The essays in this collection delve into the ways cultural traditions, child-rearing practices, and enduring familial obligations shape deeply internalized needs for accomplishment and self-justification. De Vos employs psychological testing, including Rorschach and Thematic Apperception protocols, to demonstrate the persistence of cultural continuities in shaping motivation and social identity across generations and settings. The volume also explores the darker terrain of deviance, delinquency, and alienation, highlighting how Japan's strong culture of obligation also produces patterned forms of failure and marginalization. Essays on youth delinquency, gang organization, the Burakumin minority, and suicide trace the interplay between cultural traditions, rapid social change, and the pressures of conformity. De Vos argues that Japanese society exemplifies a distinctive form of "socialization for achievement" that emphasizes the importance of social conformity and the internalization of cultural values. Overall, the book offers a rich and insightful examination of the cultural factors that shape individual behavior and social dynamics in Japan.

Weight: 1043g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520359277