Jonathan Haidt's terrific book, The Anxious Generation, has a paragraph that reminded me of David's journey from America, to Japan, and eventually to California. I found it interesting though not necessarily surprising. Here's Haidt: There seems to be a similar sensitive period for cultural learning, which closes just a few years later-still during puberty. The Japanese anthropologist Yasuko Minoura studied the children of Japanese businessmen who had been transferred by their companies to live for a few years in California during the 1970s. She wanted to know at what age America shaped their sense of self, their feelings, and their ways of interacting with friends, even after they returned to Japan. The answer, she found, was between ages 9 and 14 or 15. Those children who spent a few years in California during that sensitive period came to "feel American." If they returned to Japan at 15 or later, they had a harder time readjusting, or coming to "feel Japanese." Those who didn't arrive in America until age 15 had no such problems, because they never came to feel American, and those who returned to Japan well before 14 were able to readjust, because they were still in their sensitive period and could relearn Japanese ways. Minoura noted that "during the sensitive period, a cultural meaning system for interpersonal relationships appears to become a salient part of self-identity to which they are emotionally attached." Peter T.
Cultural Learning: From Japan to California, and back to Japan
[view all posts]
Jonathan Haidt's terrific book, The Anxious Generation, has a paragraph that reminded me of David's journey from America, to Japan, and eventually to California. I found it interesting though not necessarily surprising. Here's Haidt: There seems to be a similar sensitive period for cultural learning, which closes just a few years later-still during puberty. The Japanese anthropologist Yasuko Minoura studied the children of Japanese businessmen who had been transferred by their companies to live for a few years in California during the 1970s. She wanted to know at what age America shaped their sense of self, their feelings, and their ways of interacting with friends, even after they returned to Japan. The answer, she found, was between ages 9 and 14 or 15. Those children who spent a few years in California during that sensitive period came to "feel American." If they returned to Japan at 15 or later, they had a harder time readjusting, or coming to "feel Japanese." Those who didn't arrive in America until age 15 had no such problems, because they never came to feel American, and those who returned to Japan well before 14 were able to readjust, because they were still in their sensitive period and could relearn Japanese ways. Minoura noted that "during the sensitive period, a cultural meaning system for interpersonal relationships appears to become a salient part of self-identity to which they are emotionally attached." Peter T.
