Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction)
Relevance of the article. COVID-19 is a serious global problem, that humanity is facing today. Different countries provide various measures to confront the epidemic. But not only measures differ from country to country, but people’s attitude to this problem is also quite different. In Japan the num...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lomonosov Moscow State University
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Национальный психологический журнал |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://npsyj.ru/pdf/npj-no39-2020/npj_no39_2020_013-021.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827362097307058176 |
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| author | Tsuneyuki Abe Alexander E. Raevskiy |
| author_facet | Tsuneyuki Abe Alexander E. Raevskiy |
| author_sort | Tsuneyuki Abe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Relevance of the article. COVID-19 is a serious global problem, that humanity is facing today. Different countries provide various measures to confront the epidemic.
But not only measures differ from country to country, but people’s attitude to this problem is also quite different. In Japan the number of victims is relatively low, and it can
be suggested that several socio-psychological factors of the Japanese society underlie this phenomenon. Aim of the current research is to describe psychological measures of confronting COVID-19 in Japan, and to analyze religious, cultural and psychological features of the
Japanese people, that could predeterminate the effectiveness of measures conducted by the Japanese government to confront the epidemic. Course of the research. Current article is devoted to the two main features of Japanese policy confronting COVID-19: sanitary masks and self-restriction policy (jishuku). The attitude of the Japanese people to the epidemic, and the measures conducted by the government are analyzed from psychological point of view. Also, basic social and psychological factors that supposedly helped to control the epidemic and the features of governmental policy in confronting COVID-19 are described.
Results. Important feature of the Japan’s anti-COVID-19 policy was an absence of strict measures suppressing individual freedom. But in spite of that, government’s appeal for the mask use and social distance was carefully followed by the people. It can be probably explained by a historically based tendency of the Japanese people to conduct themselves in accordance with the social rules, a daily habit of sanitary masks usage, and also a special attitude to cleanliness and hygiene.
Conclusion. Fight against COVID-19 requires systematic, coordinated and constructive approach, use of several scientific disciplines, human resources and technological
solutions. Probably the Japanese experience in this problem would help international community to confront epidemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:20:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2686127802644eb8b32f5c38141b7603 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6617 2309-9828 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:20:07Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Lomonosov Moscow State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Национальный психологический журнал |
| spelling | doaj.art-2686127802644eb8b32f5c38141b76032024-02-02T23:53:23ZengLomonosov Moscow State UniversityНациональный психологический журнал2079-66172309-98282020-09-01339132110.11621/npj.2020.0302Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction)Tsuneyuki Abe0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9694-357XAlexander E. Raevskiy1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1459-7381Tohoku University, Sendai, JapanMoscow State University, Moscow, RussiaRelevance of the article. COVID-19 is a serious global problem, that humanity is facing today. Different countries provide various measures to confront the epidemic. But not only measures differ from country to country, but people’s attitude to this problem is also quite different. In Japan the number of victims is relatively low, and it can be suggested that several socio-psychological factors of the Japanese society underlie this phenomenon. Aim of the current research is to describe psychological measures of confronting COVID-19 in Japan, and to analyze religious, cultural and psychological features of the Japanese people, that could predeterminate the effectiveness of measures conducted by the Japanese government to confront the epidemic. Course of the research. Current article is devoted to the two main features of Japanese policy confronting COVID-19: sanitary masks and self-restriction policy (jishuku). The attitude of the Japanese people to the epidemic, and the measures conducted by the government are analyzed from psychological point of view. Also, basic social and psychological factors that supposedly helped to control the epidemic and the features of governmental policy in confronting COVID-19 are described. Results. Important feature of the Japan’s anti-COVID-19 policy was an absence of strict measures suppressing individual freedom. But in spite of that, government’s appeal for the mask use and social distance was carefully followed by the people. It can be probably explained by a historically based tendency of the Japanese people to conduct themselves in accordance with the social rules, a daily habit of sanitary masks usage, and also a special attitude to cleanliness and hygiene. Conclusion. Fight against COVID-19 requires systematic, coordinated and constructive approach, use of several scientific disciplines, human resources and technological solutions. Probably the Japanese experience in this problem would help international community to confront epidemic.http://npsyj.ru/pdf/npj-no39-2020/npj_no39_2020_013-021.pdf“jishuku”community mobilitydescriptive normphilosophy |
| spellingShingle | Tsuneyuki Abe Alexander E. Raevskiy Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) Национальный психологический журнал “jishuku” community mobility descriptive norm philosophy |
| title | Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) |
| title_full | Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) |
| title_fullStr | Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) |
| title_short | Psychological characteristics of Japanese attitude toward COVID-19: Sanitary masks and “jishuku” (self-restriction) |
| title_sort | psychological characteristics of japanese attitude toward covid 19 sanitary masks and jishuku self restriction |
| topic | “jishuku” community mobility descriptive norm philosophy |
| url | http://npsyj.ru/pdf/npj-no39-2020/npj_no39_2020_013-021.pdf |
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