Moralization of Japanese cultural norms among student sojourners in Japan

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between different domains of cultural adaptation among international students in Japan and the moralization of culture-specific norms. Newcomers may adapt certain norms of the host culture and ascribe moral meanings to initially nonmoral activities or objects. Building on the existing model of sociocultural adaptation, we investigated how different types of sociocultural adaptation are associated with the moralization of Japanese cultural norms. For international students in Japan, there are three aspects of sociocultural adaptation: academic, daily living, and interpersonal. Our results showed that cultural adaptation in the interpersonal domain, but not in the academic and daily living domains, predicted harsher moral judgments of behaviors that violated Japanese cultural norms. These findings suggest that international students who are well adjusted in the interpersonal domain gain an understanding of what is sanctioned in the Japanese cultural context and come to see certain behaviors as morally appropriate. We discuss several implications for further investigating the moralization of certain behaviors within the context of acculturation.