CONCEPTS OF HUMAN DIFFERENCES - A COMPARISON OF AMERICAN, JAPANESE, AND CHINESE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Concepts of human differences were studied among 5th and 11th graders in the United States (n = 175), Japan (n = 256), and the People's Repu blic of China (n = 160). Relative to their peers in the other 2 cultur es, more American students noted differences in appearance and attract iveness and material resources; more Japanese students noted various p hysical features, and more Chinese students noted specific behaviors. On the whole, Japanese responses resembled those of the American stude nts more closely than those of the Chinese students. With increasing a ge, American students reported a larger number, whereas Asian students tended to report a smaller number of distinct categories of human dif ferences. Results are discussed in terms of cultural construals of sel f and theories of cognitive development.