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Audio Japan 〜Learning Japan with You〜 This podcast is to dive into Japanese culture,
trends, and some niche information. Through Audio Japan, I aim to make you like Japan more,
help you chat with people in your daily life, have business meetings, and communicate with people
from different countries. If you wanna listen to the episode in Japanese, go to the podcast
Audio Japan 〜Learning Japan with You〜. The audio is available on Spotify, YouTube,
Apple Podcast, and so on. My name is Taiki Arai, and I'm an educational designer.
Have you ever taken the MBTI personality test? It was a trend among teenagers and people in their
20s on social media at one time. It classifies human personality types into 16 categories.
I'm an ENFJ type, the protagonist type. To quote a part of the description,
ENFJ is that characterized by passionate altruism, a caring nature, high communication skills,
and earning trust from people. Also, the ability to observe people and events
and convey these ideas as a common goal is another future.
I felt this description matched me in many ways. I was surprised.
However, our main theme today is not about MBTI. It's about BIG FIVE and its relation to Japan.
BIG FIVE is also a diagnostic tool. I chose this topic because I came across an article about BIG
FIVE and its relation to Japan. My perception is that people in Tokyo and Kyushu quickly adopt
new services, while in my hometown Fukui and other regions in Hokuriku, there's a tendency
to dislike new services. I found the article interesting because it was aligned with and
differed slightly from my perception. The second reason is while researching,
I found that BIG FIVE and MBTI, although both personality tests, have subtle differences.
Understanding these differences can help us choose the right tool depending on the situation.
In the first half, I'll explain BIG FIVE, including its differences from MBTI.
And in the second half, I'll delve into BIG FIVE and its relation to Japan.
Let's get started. BIG FIVE is a theory about individual personality traits proposed by
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American psychologist Louis R. Goldberg. It states that a person's personality can be classified
by five factors. Openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The varying strengths of these five factors determine our personalities and behaviors.
I took a free online test, which presented results and scores, indicating that I am a
diligent person with no mental abnormalities. I felt a bit shy about being labeled diligent,
but the no mental abnormalities part made me wonder if some people get results
indicating mental abnormalities. That would be unpleasant.
Okay, each factor explained. Openness. Openness is that, reflects intellectual,
curiosity, imagination, artistic sensibilities, and openness to new ideas and experiences.
The high level is, likes to create new things, imaginative and innovative, while low levels
prefers to follow established ways, cautious. My score was 91%, quite high. It matches my
tendency to try new tools and get bored with monotonous tasks quickly. Conscientiousness
reflects emotional control, achievement, and responsibility. High level means detail-oriented,
perfectionist, while low level means emotional, impulsive. I scored 96%, the highest among the
five factors. Indeed, I'm quite particular, even about the clothes I buy or the direction my pen
face in my pen case. Extraversion indicates sociability, assertiveness, and liveliness.
High level means prefers large groups, while low levels means prefers solitude, thoughtful.
I scored 85%, higher than I expected. I've recently realized I'm shy,
but I'm very sociable with familiar people. Agreeableness reflects empathy, consternation,
and kindness toward others. High level means cooperative, kind, avoids conflict,
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while low level means less interested in others. My score was 46%, significantly lower. I lack
cooperativeness, and I preferred individual activities like long-distance running in school.
I work well in teams if they have a clear goal. Neuroticism, reactivity to negative
stimuli. High level means affected physically and mentally by tension and anxiety.
Low level means emotionally stable, less prone to worry. I scored 52%. When worried,
it affects my emotions and body. I manage it by running or going to the gym.
Next, differences between Big Five and MBTI. MBTI and Blues type diagnoses fall under
personality typology, creating main patterns of personality and fitting individuals into them.
It's intuitive, but can be broad. For example, it's like saying, you are a wizard.
On the other hand, Big Five is based on trait theory, which suggests personalities are composed
of multiple traits, analyzed by quantifying these traits. It provides a detailed description of an
individual like a wizard with HP 40, MP 120. Or sometimes, you might use Strength Finder during
job hunting. Both tests are great for sparking conversations, so it's good to use them as needed.
Now, let's move to the second half. I'll tell you the relationship between Big Five and Japanese
regions. Extroversion, high in metropolitan areas like Tokyo and Okinawa, while low in the
Chugoku region. The metropolitan and Okinawa regions have many tourists and high population
density, is well-developed territory industries, indicating higher sociability. The Chugoku region,
facing depopulation and relying more on primary and secondary industries, shows lower extroversion.
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Agreeableness, high in Kyushu and Okinawa, followed by the Kansai region, while low in the
Hokuriku region. It's just a joke, but this could explain my low agreeableness score,
as I'm from Fukui in Hokuriku. Living in Kyushu might increase my agreeableness.
Interestingly, successful career individuals often score low in agreeableness, as they might need to
be competitive. Conscientiousness, low in the Tohoku region, particularly in Akita, Iwate, and
Miyagi prefectures. The reason behind this is unclear. If you have your answer or hypothesis
about that, I'm glad to send me the one by the survey form. Neuroticism, high in Tohoku and Chugoku
regions, while low in Okinawa. Okinawans' low score makes sense, as they seem to handle worries well,
is their non-chronizer philosophy. High scores in Tohoku and Chugoku might relate to ongoing
depopulation. Openness, high in Kyushu, while low in Hokuriku and Tohoku regions.
Kyushu's high score could be due to its historical interactions with Asian countries, adopting foreign
cultures effectively. Kyushu might continue to thrive through Asian interactions, and I might
be well-suited for living there. Theoretical background for regional personality differences.
1. Biological influence. Natural environment and social situations share people's thoughts
and tendencies, influencing their personalities. 2. Social influence. Regional customs and
communication with local residents lead to personality changes and regional differences.
3. Selective migration. People with specific personality traits moving and accumulating in
certain areas, accentuating geographical characteristics. For example, city dwellers
often have higher extroversion and openness than suburban residents. Of course, an individual's
personality is influenced not only by their birth region, but also by relationships with parents,
friends, and genetics. However, this broadcast suggests considering your big five profile and
finding a suitable environment. As mentioned by independent researcher Shu Yamaguchi,
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before COVID-19, work locations determined living places. However, remote and hybrid work
allows people to choose their living location freely. Some might live in Fukuoka for its openness
and sociability, while others might choose Akashi City in Hyogo Prefecture for its rich child care
support. I realized that changing living locations could lead to new interactions
and different time allocations. I've been living in Miyagi for about seven years,
moving from Fukui to Osaka and then Miyagi. Maybe it's time for a new location.
I could even consider living seasonally like in Hokkaido during summer and Fukuoka in winter.
Finally, I've linked the big five free diagnosis test in the description. Please try it when you
have time. Audio Japan, learning Japan with you. It was time for the ending.
We are nearing the end of January 2024. How was this month for you? I'm relieved to have maintained
a weekly broadcast pace, as the key to increasing listeners lies in the first three to four months.
Being a perfectionist, I sometimes think of skipping a week rather than doing something
half-heartedly, but I'm focusing on completing tasks. For months from now, around Golden Week,
there will be about 20 episodes. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. Also, as I
mentioned at the beginning, if you'd like to listen to the podcast, Audio Japan, learning
Japan with you in Japanese, please listen to the podcast. Audio Japan. The audio is available on
Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcast, and so on. I also welcome your comments and letters about the
episode. Please fill out the survey form in the overview section. I look forward to hearing from
you. If you like this audio, please subscribe and follow my channel. Thank you for listening to the
end. My name is Takeo Arai, and I'm an educational designer. Thank you.
