Taijin Kyoufu and Avoidant Personality Disorder

By: THEODORE MILLON and

      Seth Grossman

      Carrie Millon

      Sarah Meagher

      Rowena Ramnath

Taijin kyoufu, literally “interpersonal fear,” is a syndrome characterized by interpersonal sensitivity and fear and avoidance of interpersonal situations (Ono et al., 1996, p. 172).

Presumably, its origins lie in the belief that blushing, eye contact, ugliness, and body odor are noticeable and troubling to others. Apparently common in Japan, the disorder is recognized as a culture-bound syndrome in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994) that resembles social phobia. Ono and his associates (1996), however, argue that taijin kyoufu is really more closely related to the avoidant personality.

In collectivist societies, such as Japan, the self is defined externally through its relationships with others. The self is, therefore, subordinated to the concerns of the group. In individualistic societies, such as the United States, the self is more an internal construct regarded as the individual’s exclusive identity. Because Japanese and American concepts of the self are so radically different, it is logical that the same disorder should be manifested in different ways in each culture.

In individualistic societies, the avoidant personality fears criticism from others, negative evaluation, and rejection. This is followed by what Okonogi (1996) calls a Western-style type of shame: “One is concerned that one is not behaving as expected according to one’s own ego ideal” (p. 175); that is, “I have failed to live up to my own standards.”

In a collectivist society, however, the avoidant personality is more likely to be manifest as a fear of offending others with one’s behavior, with the discomfort that one’s own characteristics may be causing to others. Logically then, taijin kyoufu subjects tend to be more concerned with their appearance and the impact that it may have on others.

Such cultural distinctions make another prediction as well. You would expect that social phobia, being more concerned with embarrassment to self, would be more prevalent in individualistic societies such as the United States and that avoidant personality disorder, taijin kyoufu, would have a higher prevalence rate in collectivist societies such as Japan.

Although there are no studies of differential prevalence rates between these two countries, Ono and his colleagues (1996) offer data showing that the avoidant personality was the most frequently diagnosed personality in their study. More research is required on prevalence rates of personality disorders in different cultures.

References

Personality Disorders in Modern Life, second edition, 2000, 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Read Also

Avoidant Personality Disorder, Case vignette (1) 
Avoidant Personality Disorder, Case vignette (2)
Defining Mental Illness
The cultural Framework for health
What we know about culture and health?

How Do Culture and Personality Interact?
Are Dysthymia and Depressive Personality Synonymous?
Separation Anxiety and Dependent Personality