Cultural similarities and differences in the semantic dimensions of body postures

We report two studies that examine how differences in social structure between the American and Japanese cultures manifest themselves in differences in the interpretation of body postures. In Study 1, 145 American undergraduates rated 37 posture expressions, using Kudoh and Matsumoto's (1985) semantic differential rating scale. In Study 2, 148 American undergraduates and 150 Japanese undergraduates rated 37 posture expressions, using Mehrabian's (1972) semantic differential rating scale. Factor analysis of the data from both studies indicated a reversal of the primary factors used by the cultures to interpret postures. For the Japanese, judgments were primarily influenced by issues concerning status and power; for the Americans, ratings were primarily influenced by interpersonal responsiveness issues, such as like-dislike judgments. There were also differences in the types of postures indicative of the different factors between the Americans and the Japanese, which were also related to differences in social structure. These differences were discussed in terms of the vertical-horizontal conceptualization of social structure offered by Nakane (1970).David Matsumoto was supported by an American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship under Clinical Training Grant 5 T01 MH13833 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by a Regents Fellowship and a Chancellor's Patent Fund Award for Research from the University of California at Berkeley.