Implicit Self-Esteem in Japan: Name Letters and Birthday Numbers

Abstract

Japanese studies have repeatedly failed to obtain any explicit tendency to enhance self-esteem. In two studies, the authors attempted an implicit assessment of positive feelings attached to Japanese selves and found evidence for such feelings. Study 1 examined preference for Japanese alphabetical letters and found that letters included in one's own name were significantly better liked than the remaining ones. Further, an especially strong preference was expressed by male respondents for the first letters of their family names, and by female respondents for the first letters of their first names. Study 2 assessed preference for numerics and showed that the numbers corresponding to both the month and the day of one's birthday were significantly better liked than the remaining numbers. Implications are discussed for theories of Japanese selves.