Universality and Distinctiveness in Dimensions of Japanese Person Perception

Dimensions of Japanese person perception were assessed using Norman's (1963) method and stimulus materials. These dimensions were then compared statistically with results from similar studies involving subjects from the United States and from the Philippines. Students from Japan and the United States grouped the same behaviors into the five factors of extroversion, good-naturedness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and culture. For all three subject populations, the same behavior descriptions were grouped together to form the high variance dimensions of extroversion, good-naturedness, and conscientiousness. The factors of emotional stability and culture, however, appear to be construed in culturally specific ways. Differences in the relative strength of the first three factors across the three cultures were discussed with the prominence of the extroversion factor in Japan being related to the importance of relative status in Japanese society.