Seen in modern perspective, the concept of national character poses fundamental problems for social science theory and research: To what extent do conditions of life in a particular society give rise to certain patterns in the personalities of its members? What are the consequences? Alex Inkeles surveys various definitions of national character, tracing developments through the twentieth century. His approach is to examine the regularity of specific personality patterns among individuals in a society. He argues that modal personality may be extremely important in determining which new cultural elements are accepted and which institutional forms persist in a society. Reviewing previous studies, Inkeles canvasses the attitudes and psychological states of different nations in an effort to discover a set of values in the United States. He concludes that, despite recent advances in the field, there is much to be done before we can have a clear picture of the degree of differentiation in the personality structure of modern nations. Until now, there were few formal definitions and discussions on national character and the limits of this field of study. This book will be of great interest to psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and political theorists.

This unique survey of the evolution of the modern Chinese national character incorporates a rich blend of history and theory as well as nation, gender, and film studies. It begins with the dawn of the concept of "nation" in China at the end of the Imperial period, and follows its development from early Republican China to the present People's Republic, drawing on themes of national identity, "Orientalness," racial evolution and purity, cultural and gender roles, regional animosities, historical impediments, and more. The book also takes up the changing American perceptions of Chinese personality development and gender, using materials from American popular culture.

This Encyclopedia provides a comprehensive overview of individual differences within the domain of personality, with major sub-topics including assessment and research design, taxonomy, biological factors, evolutionary evidence, motivation, cognition and emotion, as well as gender differences, cultural considerations, and personality disorders. It is an up-to-date reference for this increasingly important area and a key resource for those who study intelligence, personality, motivation, aptitude and their variations within members of a group.

This book first presents an overview of the history of a national character survey by the Institute of Statistical Mathematics that has been conducted for more than 65 years. The Japanese National Character Survey, launched in 1953, is a rare longitudinal survey in the world of survey research based on rigorous statistical sampling theory, motivating other countries to launch similar longitudinal surveys, including the General Social Survey (GSS), the Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften (ALLBUS, German General Social Survey (GGSS)), Eurobarometer, and others. Since the early 1970s, the Japanese survey has been extended as a cross-national survey for more advanced research of the Japanese national character in a comparative context. Second, the book explains the paradigm of cross-national studies called the Cultural Manifold Analysis (CULMAN), developed in the longitudinal and cross-national surveys, with practical examples of analysis. This explanation will help helps a wide range of readers to better understand the cross-national comparative surveys of attitudes, opinion, and social values as basic information for evidence-based policymaking and research.

The Japanese Ethos: A Study of National Character is a seminal work of Yasuoka Masahiro (1898-1983). Published in 1924 despite Yasuoka's dissatisfaction with its shortcomings, the book was kept out of print by Yasuoka until popularity prompted reissuance in 1934 and 1937. In 1924, some 50 years after opening to the world in the Meiji Restoration, Japan was drowning in a flood of Western ideas, and all of Asia was in turmoil. The British-Afghan War had erupted just 5 years before, followed by Gandhi's nationwide "non-cooperation" campaign in India one year later. Yasuoka, still in his 20s, and deeply troubled by Western decadence infecting Japan in this time of crisis, urged development of an independent national character. "Now, before our eyes in Japan, citizens, one and all, are unequivocally conscious of being confronted with a terrible crisis. The time is now for Japan, as a nation, to realize a remarkable development of character." The Japanese Ethos was written to guide Japan to a promising future through the wisdom of ancient teachings. In it, Yasuoka describes a history and tradition nurtured for more than 2000 years. The moral examples depicted are primarily samurai and he discusses in detail the character traits a samurai must cultivate. In later chapters he gives examples of men of great character. Two chapters address kendo (sword fighting), whose spirit "became the foundation of all the arts and letters, and of Eastern thought." The samurai spirit was the leading force for the Meiji Restoration and is the essence of this book. For Japan, which lost much of its culture after World War II, The Japanese Ethos has awakened a nation from slumber. Though written nearly a century ago, it is surprisingly current and makes us ponder what it truly means to be Japanese.