It is assumed that people seek positive self-regard; that is, they are moti
vated to possess, enhance, and maintain positive self-views. The cross-cult
ural generalizability of such motivations was addressed by examining Japane
se culture. Anthropological, sociological, and psychological analyses revea
led that many elements of Japanese culture are incongruent with such motiva
tions. Moreover, the empirical literature provides scant evidence for a nee
d for positive self-regard among Japanese and indicates that a self-critica
l focus is more characteristic of Japanese. It is argued that the need for
self-regard must be culturally variant because the constructions of self an
d regard themselves differ across cultures. The need for positive self-rega
rd as it is currently conceptualized, is not a universal, but rather is roo
ted in significant aspects of North American culture. Conventional interpre
tations of positive self-regard are too narrow to encompass the Japanese ex
perience.