Ogihara, Y., Fujita, H., Tominaga, H., Ishigaki, S., Kashimoto, T., Takahashi, A., Toyohara, K., Uchida, Y. (2015). Are common names becoming less common? : The rise in uniqueness and individualism in Japan. Frontiers in Psychology.
日本の親は「ありふれた漢字だけどユニークな読み方」の名前をつけるようになった．そのことは個人主義の程度と正の相関を持っている
要旨（日本語訳）
https://sites.google.com/site/kgasasemi/home/2015rindoc_asarin/ribennoqinhaarifuretahanzidakedoyunikunadumifangnomingqianwotsukeruyouninattasonokotohagerenzhuyinochengdutozhengnoxiangguanwochitteiru
We examined whether Japanese culture has become more individualistic by investigating how the practice of naming babies has changed over time. Cultural psychology has revealed substantial cultural variation in human psychology and behavior, emphasizing the mutual construction of socio-cultural environment and mind. However, much of the past research did not account for the fact that culture is changing. Indeed, archival data on behavior (e.g., divorce rates) suggest a rise in individualism in the U.S. and Japan. In addition to archival data, cultural products (which express an individual’s psyche and behavior outside the head; e.g., advertising) can also reveal cultural change. However, little research has investigated the changes in individualism in East Asia using cultural products. To reveal the dynamic aspects of culture, it is important to present temporal data across cultures. In this study, we examined baby names as a cultural product. If Japanese culture has become more individualistic, parents would be expected to give their children unique names. Using two databases, we calculated the rate of popular baby names between 2004 and 2013. Both databases released the rankings of popular names and their rates within the sample. As Japanese names are generally comprised of both written Chinese characters and their pronunciations, we analyzed these two separately. We found that the rate of popular Chinese characters increased, whereas the rate of popular pronunciations decreased. However, only the rate of popular pronunciations was associated with a previously validated collectivism index. Moreover, we examined the pronunciation variation of common combinations of Chinese characters and the written form variation of common pronunciations. We found that the variation of written forms decreased, whereas the variation of pronunciations increased over time. Taken together, these results showed that parents are giving their children unique names by pairing common Chinese characters with uncommon pronunciations, which indicates an increase in individualism in Japan.
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個性的な名前を与える傾向が増加している －日本文化の個人主義化を示唆（京都大学、2015年10月22日）
京都大学、新生児の名前から日本文化の個人主義化を示唆（大学ジャーナルオンライン編集部、2015年11月1日）
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読みのユニークネス追求は「戸籍」に文字しか登録されないことも関係していよう。使える文字に制約が課せられていることも。
おまけ
▼tabuchi編
Lauren A. Winczewski, Jeffrey D. Bowen, and Nancy L. Collins (2016). Is empathic accuracy enough to facilitate responsive behavior in dyadic interaction? :Distinguishing ability from motivation. Psychological Science, 27(3): 394-404.
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that interpersonal responsiveness—feeling understood, validated, and cared for by other people—plays a key role in shaping the quality of one’s social interactions and relationships. But what enables people to be interpersonally responsive to others? In the current study, we argued that responsiveness requires not only accurate understanding but also compassionate motivation. Specifically, we hypothesized that understanding another person’s thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) would foster responsive behavior only when paired with benevolent motivation (empathic concern). To test this idea, we asked couples (N = 91) to discuss a personal or relationship stressor; we then assessed empathic accuracy, empathic concern, and responsive behavior. As predicted, when listeners’ empathic concern was high, empathic accuracy facilitated responsiveness; but when empathic concern was low, empathic accuracy was unhelpful (and possibly harmful) for responsiveness. These findings provide the first evidence that cognitive and affective forms of empathy work together to facilitate responsive behavior.
人間関係には他人の気持ちを「正しく理解する」ことより「何とかしてあげたい気持ち」が重要
https://sites.google.com/site/tabuchimegumi/research/2015papers/renjianguanxinihatarennoqichichiwozhengshikulijiesurukotoyorihetokashiteagetaiqichichigazhongyao
そもそも他人の気持ちが理解できた（としよう）時点で、その人は、その他人になってしまう。理解よりも意志。
https://sites.google.com/site/kgasasemi/home/2015rindoc_asarin/ribennoqinhaarifuretahanzidakedoyunikunadumifangnomingqianwotsukeruyouninattasonokotohagerenzhuyinochengdutozhengnoxiangguanwochitteiru
We examined whether Japanese culture has become more individualistic by investigating how the practice of naming babies has changed over time. Cultural psychology has revealed substantial cultural variation in human psychology and behavior, emphasizing the mutual construction of socio-cultural environment and mind. However, much of the past research did not account for the fact that culture is changing. Indeed, archival data on behavior (e.g., divorce rates) suggest a rise in individualism in the U.S. and Japan. In addition to archival data, cultural products (which express an individual’s psyche and behavior outside the head; e.g., advertising) can also reveal cultural change. However, little research has investigated the changes in individualism in East Asia using cultural products. To reveal the dynamic aspects of culture, it is important to present temporal data across cultures. In this study, we examined baby names as a cultural product. If Japanese culture has become more individualistic, parents would be expected to give their children unique names. Using two databases, we calculated the rate of popular baby names between 2004 and 2013. Both databases released the rankings of popular names and their rates within the sample. As Japanese names are generally comprised of both written Chinese characters and their pronunciations, we analyzed these two separately. We found that the rate of popular Chinese characters increased, whereas the rate of popular pronunciations decreased. However, only the rate of popular pronunciations was associated with a previously validated collectivism index. Moreover, we examined the pronunciation variation of common combinations of Chinese characters and the written form variation of common pronunciations. We found that the variation of written forms decreased, whereas the variation of pronunciations increased over time. Taken together, these results showed that parents are giving their children unique names by pairing common Chinese characters with uncommon pronunciations, which indicates an increase in individualism in Japan.
■
個性的な名前を与える傾向が増加している －日本文化の個人主義化を示唆（京都大学、2015年10月22日）
京都大学、新生児の名前から日本文化の個人主義化を示唆（大学ジャーナルオンライン編集部、2015年11月1日）
■
読みのユニークネス追求は「戸籍」に文字しか登録されないことも関係していよう。使える文字に制約が課せられていることも。
おまけ
▼tabuchi編
Lauren A. Winczewski, Jeffrey D. Bowen, and Nancy L. Collins (2016). Is empathic accuracy enough to facilitate responsive behavior in dyadic interaction? :Distinguishing ability from motivation. Psychological Science, 27(3): 394-404.
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that interpersonal responsiveness—feeling understood, validated, and cared for by other people—plays a key role in shaping the quality of one’s social interactions and relationships. But what enables people to be interpersonally responsive to others? In the current study, we argued that responsiveness requires not only accurate understanding but also compassionate motivation. Specifically, we hypothesized that understanding another person’s thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) would foster responsive behavior only when paired with benevolent motivation (empathic concern). To test this idea, we asked couples (N = 91) to discuss a personal or relationship stressor; we then assessed empathic accuracy, empathic concern, and responsive behavior. As predicted, when listeners’ empathic concern was high, empathic accuracy facilitated responsiveness; but when empathic concern was low, empathic accuracy was unhelpful (and possibly harmful) for responsiveness. These findings provide the first evidence that cognitive and affective forms of empathy work together to facilitate responsive behavior.
人間関係には他人の気持ちを「正しく理解する」ことより「何とかしてあげたい気持ち」が重要
https://sites.google.com/site/tabuchimegumi/research/2015papers/renjianguanxinihatarennoqichichiwozhengshikulijiesurukotoyorihetokashiteagetaiqichichigazhongyao
そもそも他人の気持ちが理解できた（としよう）時点で、その人は、その他人になってしまう。理解よりも意志。
