It has been shown that a large number of alternatives decreases post-choice satisfaction, which is called the choice overload phenomenon. This study examined this phenomenon by focusing on alternatives to be avoided, unlike previous studies of choice overload, which dealt with alternatives that one would like to obtain. The experiment was conducted with a 2 (with or without freedom of choice) × 2 (small or large alternatives) design and a procedure in which the participants were asked to choose a punishment after failing a gambling task. The results showed that, in the with freedom of choice conditions, the large alternatives conditions reduced the opportunity cost and post-choice negative affect. Furthermore, post-choice negative affect was found to be mediated by opportunity cost. In our experiment focusing on alternatives to be avoided, it can be argued that the results were opposite to those previously obtained for choice overload because the more the number of alternatives increased, the more the cost associated with the alternatives that were not chosen was reduced.

In recent years, understanding of disability has shifted from the traditional “medical model” to the “social model”. The medical model of disability conceptualizes disability as stemming from functional impairments inherent in the individual, whereas the social model attributes disability to social barriers external to the individual. This study focuses on these two perspectives. In Study 1, we examined the reliability and validity of a newly developed scale assessing public beliefs about disability using a sample of Japanese adults. In Study 2, we conducted an online survey of in-service teachers to test the robustness of the findings obtained in Study 1. In Study 3, we conducted a scenario-based experiment to investigate the potential for changes in disability beliefs using the developed scale. The results demonstrated that the scale had satisfactory reliability and construct validity. Furthermore, the experimental findings suggested that emphasizing the personal efforts of people with disabilities may reduce endorsement of social-model beliefs. The discussion highlights key implications for both theory and real-world practice.

Despite growing emphasis on collaboration between schools and communities, a decline in community participation in education has been observed. This study examined how residents’ motivations to volunteer in school-based educational activities are related to schools’ efforts to promote collaboration with the community. The results indicated that participation in these activities was driven by two types of motivation: “prosocial motivation” (the desire to contribute to the community and local children) and “self-oriented motivation” (the pursuit of personal meaning through participation). Both types of motivation were positively associated with residents’ perception of schools’ efforts to foster school-community collaboration. These results suggest that enhancing opportunities and institutional support for school-community collaboration may encourage residents to engage more actively in educational volunteering activities.

In this article, we provide an overview of the performance-based tests that measure decoding accuracy for sender’s states and traits, which is a critical aspect of interpersonal communication. We discuss the components of interpersonal communication, the role of basic skills, such as decoding in interpersonal communication, and the importance of accurate decoding. Next, we introduce the variety of nonverbal cue and the targeted concept of decoding, the cultural influences on decoding, and the issues in methodology used to measure decoding accuracy. Then, we review existing performance-based tests that measure decoding accuracy based on the cultural background of the stimulus person. We also present the available nonverbal cues, decoding targets, test reliability and validity, and findings from studies using these tests. Finally, we identify the necessity for developing tests that use Japanese as stimulus persons as an issue in measuring decoding accuracy and for investigating the determinants of decoding accuracy, such as knowledge and motivation, after a proper measurement of decoding accuracy.

Studies have demonstrated that, while social support is universally important for well-being, its meaning varies across cultures because of historically inherited cultural backgrounds. Notably, in East Asian cultures, social support transactions are sometimes associated with feelings of burden or shame. This review examines when and how these cultural differences in social support emerge during child development by synthesizing studies on the influence of cultural values and norms, as well as their intergenerational transmission. We advocate a developmental perspective in cultural-psychological research on social support. This review suggests that cultural differences in the provision of support and in related cognition and motivation emerge by middle childhood. It also indicates that children may learn culturally appropriate ways of offering and receiving support by interacting with mature members of their culture and through exposure to cultural artifacts. Future research should focus more on the development of recipients’ psychological processes and comprehensively examine the influence of sociocultural environments. This approach will contribute to a deeper understanding of the development of social support.

Subjective youthfulness is linked to psychological adjustment, including self-esteem; however, the conditions under which this association varies remain unclear. We examined whether female identity moderates the relationship between subjective youthfulness and self-esteem. An online survey was conducted with 300 Japanese women. Multiple regression analysis was performed with self-esteem as the dependent variable and subjective youthfulness, female identity, their interaction term, mental health, and demographic variables as independent variables. Results indicated that greater subjective youthfulness was associated with higher self-esteem, and this association was significantly moderated by female identity. Specifically, the positive link between subjective youthfulness and self-esteem was stronger among women with lower female identity than among those with higher female identity. For women strongly identifying with their gender, subjective youthfulness may be more closely tied to gendered norms and evaluative standards, thereby attenuating its association with self-esteem. Subjective youthfulness may operate as either a personal resource or a norm-based standard, depending on gender identification.