Cross-Culture Comparative Research on Social Norms

Compared social norms of Chinese, Japanese, and American residents. 1,434 Beijing residents, 608 Osaka residents, and 1,409 Los Angeles residents completed questionnaires. Results show that (1) the 2 basic types of social norms of the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Americans were the same, including the ethic and moral, value orientation, the law and the rules, and the social custom. (2) The basic structures of social norms in China and in Japan were the same: internal control norms played a main role and external control norms were auxiliary. Within the internal norm of Chinese, the moral principle was the main force while value orientation was supplementary; within external norms, the law and rules were the main force while social custom was supplementary. In contrast, the relationship between the external and internal dimensions of Japanese Ss were contrary to those of the Chinese. (3) For Americans, external control norms played a main role while internal control norms assisted in the structure of social norms. Furthermore, the law and rules were the major aspect while social customs were secondary concerning external control. Value orientation led the performance style of the Americans, while moral principles played a secondary role in internal control structure.