Cultural shaping of explanatory models: Lay beliefs about mental illness in Japan

Background: The concept of abnormality is culturally shaped due to the differences in intersubjectively perceived norms, meanings, and practices across cultures. While most assumptions underlying the current conceptualization of abnormality is heavily influenced by Western way of thinking, accumulating evidence suggests that laypeople’s explanation of abnormality is culturally diverse. Moreover, laypeople from different cultural contexts may have different understandings of the causes, recovery, and prevention of mental illness. Aims: This study aimed to understand lay beliefs of mental illness and explore how selfconstruals may help explain unique explanations among Japanese people. Beliefs about causes, recovery, and prevention of mental illness were coded to (1) identify Haslam’s (2003) the four established styles (i.e., pathologizing, psychologizing, medicalizing, moralizing); and (2) explore culturally unique explanations. Methods: Sixty-eight Japanese participants completed a Twenty Statements Test (Rhee et al., 1995) and provided explanations for five psychiatric conditions using vignettes, including depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorder, and hikikomori. Malle’s (1999) coding method was used to classify the four styles and identify culturally unique explanations. Results: Our Japanese participants used moralizing explanations more frequently than psychologization. Moreover, a new category of social explanations emerged, which was associated with interdependent self-construal. Discussion: Our Japanese participants used distinct explanatory styles compared to previous findings in Western samples. Self-construals may shape the explanatory styles laypeople use to explain mental illness. The emergence of the social explanations illustrates the need for capturing culturally distinct models of mental illness rather than relying on the existing Western models.