Collaboration among psychological researchers, the government, and non-profit organizations for "Konkatsu" (marriage hunting) in Japan.

In contemporary Japanese society, it is difficult to find a marriage partner, and therefore, "Konkatsu," the search for a marriage partner, has become a socially accepted activity in Japan. In response to this social challenge, in addition to private companies, governments and non-profit organizations are supporting individuals in their search for a marriage partner. This paper reviews statistical information related to marriage hunting published in Japan. In addition, some of the authors' collaborative activities and academic publications based on these activities are reviewed. Subsequently, the paper discusses and highlights the importance of helping individuals have confidence in their physical attractiveness.

Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat.

Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships and how those differences influence culture. This study measures relational mobility, a socioecological variable quantifying voluntary (high relational mobility) vs. fixed (low relational mobility) interpersonal relationships. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and test whether it predicts social behavior. People in societies with higher relational mobility report more proactive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., self-disclosure and social support) and psychological tendencies that help them build and retain relationships (e.g., general trust, intimacy, self-esteem). Finally, we explore ecological factors that could explain relational mobility differences across societies. Relational mobility was lower in societies that practiced settled, interdependent subsistence styles, such as rice farming, and in societies that had stronger ecological and historical threats.

Passion, Relational Mobility, and Proof of Commitment: A Comparative Socio-Ecological Analysis of an Adaptive Emotion in a Sexual Market.

Although monogamy, the exclusive bonding with a specific partner, is one characteristic of modern human mating, long-term romantic relationships inherently possess the commitment problem, which is the conflict between maintaining a relationship with a certain partner and seeking attractive alternatives. Frank has argued that love and passion help solve this problem because they make individuals commit voluntarily to the relationship, leading the other party to also be committed with less concern over being cheated on or rejected. Combining this idea with the comparative socio-ecological approach, we hypothesize that passion will be more pronounced in social environments in which people have greater freedom to choose and replace their partners (i.e., high relational mobility) than in societies in which relationships tend to be more stable and hard to change (i.e., low relational mobility). To test this hypothesis, we compared Americans (living in a society with high relational mobility) and Japanese (living in a society with low relational mobility). As predicted, Americans were more passionate toward their romantic partners than Japanese, and this cultural difference was partially explained by the levels of perceived relational mobility in participants' local ecology. Moreover, more intense passion was found to lead to greater commitment behaviors in both societies. The importance of taking socioecological factors into consideration for the theory of the adaptive function of interpersonal emotions is also discussed.

A longitudinal investigation of the friendship model of relational interdependent self-construal.

A four-wave longitudinal study examined how relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) or the tendency to think of one's self in terms of close relationships, was related to cognitions and behaviors within friendships. In same-sex friendships, in both concurrent and prospective analyses, own RISC was associated with perceived friend's RISC, own relationship supportive behaviors, and own relationship quality. Perceived friend's RISC predicted perceived friend's relationship supportive behaviors. Own behaviors predicted fulfillment of own friendship functions, which predicted own relationship quality. In prospective analyses, behaviors mediated the RISC-friendship function relation, and behaviors and friendship functions both mediated the RISC-relationship quality relation. However, the influence of perceived friend's RISC on subsequent variables was through its association with perceived friend's behavior, which was associated with own friendship functions concurrently.

How do I see you relative to myself? Relationship quality as a predictor of self- and partner-enhancement within cross-sex friendships, dating relationships, and marriages.

Individuals tend to rate themselves more positively than strangers or acquaintances--a self-enhancement effect. But such self-enhancement is potentially detrimental to one's intimate relationships. We hypothesized that higher relationship quality would predict (1) partner-enhancement (i.e., rating the partner more positively than the self) and (2) higher feelings of being understood and validated (FUV). In addition, (3) partner-enhancement would add to relationship quality's prediction of FUV. These hypotheses were tested among cross-sex friendships (N=92) and dating relationships (N=90) in University students and in a married, non-University sample (N=94). All hypotheses were supported in romantic relationships. For cross-sex friendships, regardless of relationship quality, individuals partner-enhanced on the negative traits but neither self- nor partner-enhanced on the positive traits. Finally, relationship quality predicted partner-perceptions more strongly than selfperceptions.

Relational-interdependent self-construal as a predictor of relationship quality: the mediating roles of one's own behaviors and perceptions of the fulfillment of friendship functions.

Relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) is the tendency to think of oneself in terms of relationships with close others, and it influences relationship cognitions (e.g., closeness, commitment, perceived similarity). The authors expected individuals high in RISC to report more relationship supportive behaviors (RSB; e.g., higher levels of trust, more intimate disclosures), experience greater fulfillment of friendship functions (FrFu; e.g., help, emotional security, stimulating companionship), and report higher relationship quality than individuals low in RISC. The authors also hypothesized that RSB would mediate the RISC-friendship function and the RISC-relationship quality relations and that FrFu would mediate the relation between RSB and relationship quality. Structural equation modeling supported the authors' hypotheses. These effects did not differ across friendship type (same or cross sex). The authors discuss the importance of self-construal for relationship research.

Self-disclosure in romantic relationships and friendships among American and Japanese college students.

The author examined whether the level of self-disclosure would differ across four types of relationships--passionate love relationships, companionate love relationships, same-sex friendships, and cross-sex friendships--and across cultures: American culture and Japanese culture. Participants were 145 college students (64 Americans and 81 Japanese). The results supported three hypotheses: (a) Japanese students scored lower in self-disclosure than American students, regardless of relationship types, (b) self-disclosure was higher in same-sex friendships than in cross-sex friendships both among American participants and among Japanese participants, and (c) self-disclosure was higher in romantic relationships than in friendships both among American students and among Japanese students. However, the correlation between self-disclosure and passionate love was not stronger than the correlation between self-disclosure and companionate love. The author discussed the present study's findings and contribution.