Cross-cultural
analyses of body-behavior relations: II. Factor structure of body
build stereotypes of Japanese and American adolescents
R.M. Lerner & S. Iwawaki |
The
factor structure of Japanese adolescents' body build stereotypes
was assessed through having 90 males and 90 females, enrolled in
Japanese public junior high schools, attribute 56 verbal checklist
items to stimulus pictures of a male Endomorph, Mesomorph, and Ectomorph,
respectively. The attitudinal factor structure of the two sex groups
was markedly similar, and with bath adolescent groups a positive
Mesomorph factor and negative Endomorph and Ectomorph factors were
found. These Japanese adolescent factor structures were compared
to corresponding data obtained with American adolescent males. Intercultural
continuity was evidenced by similar evaluative valences being associated
with corresponding body build factors, and by high Intercultural
factor congruence coefficients. However, there was evidence for intracultural
disparity between these Japanese adolescent data and previous studies
of the body build stereotypes of Japanese adults. Possible sources
of these differences were suggested, along with empirical ways to
substantiate these suggestions.
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