題目： A socio-ecological approach to cultural differences in interpersonal relationships: The effect of relational mobility
氏名： Schug, Joanna Rene
担当教員： 結城雅樹
Relational mobility, defined as the number of opportunities individuals have to select new interaction partners when necessary, in a given society of social context, can have a direct impact on the nature of interpersonal relationships in society. Not only can relationship mobility affect who individuals are able to choose as their relationship partners, it can also determine the ways in which individuals behave in the context of a given relationship. The impact of relational mobility on the nature of relationships is investigated over five studies. First, relational mobility was shown to explain differences in levels of generalized trust across societies, in accordance with Yamagishi’s emancipation theory of trust. Second, relational mobility was shown to affect levels of similarity between friendship partners in Japan and the United States? it was shown that while both Japanese and Americans prefer similar others, individuals in societies high in relational mobility have more opportunities to select similar interaction partners, which leads to inflated levels of interpersonal similarity in the United States. The last two studies demonstrated the ways in which relational mobility can affect how individuals behave in the context of an interpersonal relationship. Specifically, it was shown that Americans engage in a higher degree of self-disclosure than Japanese, while the motivations and deterrents of self-disclosure differed in each culture. While Americans were more highly motivated to engage in self-disclosure to strengthen and maintain their interpersonal relationships, Japanese were motivated to avoid self-disclosure to avoid burdening their partner. Finally, relational mobility was shown to be positively related to self-disclosure toward a friend inside within Japan, and this relationship was mediated by the motivation too strengthen one’s interpersonal relationships. Implications for the study of cultural differences are discussed.