"Collectivism and industriousness in Japanese national character – dynamics and tranformations "

Abstract

The interpretation of the term "national character" is quite controversial. It is difficult to find unanimity among the researchers on the issue because for years it has been interpreted differently and falls within the scope of different scientific fields: anthropology, ethno psychology, folklore, sociology, psychology, psycholinguistics. Interpretations of "national character" are found even in fiction. An additional obstacle is the lack of certainty in the definitions of concepts such as "cultural-ethnic stereotype", "national stereotype" and "national character". Sometimes in the specialized literature they are used synonymously. This article does not claim to be exhaustive on the topic, but we will try: 1) To outline the concept of "national character"; 2) To present research concerning the national character of the Japanese; 3) To present the author's thoughts on the dynamics and transformations of two features of the Japanese national character – collectivism and industriousness.