Research by Japan Youth Research Institute in 2002 have revealed that Japanese school children are low in self-esteem. This sparked off worries from the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (BoE) and the board has decided on embark on their own research in the next academic year.
The 2002 research indicated that only 9.4 percent of Japanese junior high school students are generally happy with themselves, compared to 53.5 percent in the U.S. and 24.3 percent in China.
Further research from last year showed that 29.4 percent of sixth-year elementary and 39.6 percent of third-year junior high school students in the metropolitan area do not consider themselves to have good qualities.
In response to such worrying figures, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (BoE) will be employing specialists in neuroscience and other fields to carry out the research and focus on how to foster self-confidence in children.
Source: Mainichi Japan
I always thought Japanese kids are happy with their pokemen and power rangers. Maybe they think that they are unable to “henshin” thats why they are unhappy.
Excellent. Now the mighty USA has the research data required to build home-grown tsunderes. Niaahahahahhaah
Bully, Pressure, Child Stress.. You named it, they got it..
American society is just slack in comparison =|
Different values, different pressures.
I think Japanese people (not just children) feel dissatisfied with themselves — under parental and social pressure — and therefore work hard. People in many Western countries today feel more satisfied with themselves and therefore work less hard. For the sake of a happy life, I prefer the West. But I also want to say that I think this is not something eternal. I think maybe people in the West felt more guilt/shame in the past — and worked harder.
Well, when I was little, I was more like over-confident than this.
But when I grew up, it’s the opposite..lol..