https://doi.org/10.4087/TAVQ7945">
 

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Several major international comparative surveys (World Values Survey, East Asian Social Survey) have repeatedly shown that Chinese people report higher levels of general trust towards people than Japanese people. It has been pointed out that if Chinese people recall the people around them when answering the question “Most people can be trusted?”, this could explain their high general trust (Yoshino and Osaki, 2013), but there are no empirical studies yet. Therefore, in this study, we will compare general trust between Japan and China by focusing on “Who comes to mind in response”. A total of 318 Japanese and 476 Chinese university students were asked to answer questions about general trust, and to select from eight items such as “people in general,” “people in local area,” “friends and acquaintances,” and “parents, siblings, and relatives” as to whom they imaged when answering. The results showed that (1) Consistent with previous studies, Chinese people reported higher general trust (positive answer: 75.8%) than Japanese people (51.6%). (2) The percentage of people who only recalled “people in general” or “Japanese in general/Chinese in general” was higher in Japan (54.7%) than in China (22.3%), while the percentage of people who recalled “parents, siblings, and relatives” was higher in China (54.2%) than in Japan (16.4%). (3) In both Japan and China, the main effect of “the person who recalled” was significant, with those who recalled “parents, siblings, and relatives” having a higher general trust. (4)There was a significant interaction between “the people who recalled” and “culture” on general trust, and cultural differences in general trust were found only in the “people in general or Japanese in general/Chinese in general” condition, which is higher for Chinese than for Japanese. (5) The mediation effect of “the person who recalled” on the cultural difference in general trust was examined, and a significant partial mediation effect was identified. However, even considering these media effects, the cultural difference in general trust between Japan and China is still significant, suggesting that further investigation of other factors is needed. The results for the Japanese and Chinese in this study also indicate the need to treat responses to general trust in previous social surveys with caution and pay attention to the interpretation of cultural differences.

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