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Acceptability of Favor Requests in the United States and Japan

2010; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 43; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0022022110383426

1552-5422

Yu Niiya, Phoebe C. Ellsworth,

Customer Service Quality and Loyalty

In previous research, the authors showed that Japanese and Americans would rather be asked to perform a favor than to have their friend solve the problem by asking someone else or getting it done professionally. In the current research, the authors further explore the similarities and differences in Japanese and American reactions to requests for favors by examining whether (a) increasing the size of the request can increase positive feelings, (b) the perceived closeness of the relationship and appraisals of control mediate the effect of request size on feelings, and (c) the increase in positive feelings only occurs in close friendship. In Japan and to some extent the United States, being asked a larger favor made people happier than being asked a smaller favor—up to a point. However, as in the authors’ previous study, cultural differences emerged in the basic pattern and in the associated appraisals. Results are discussed in relation to the Japanese phenomenon of Amae.