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Cultural Differences in Impact of Governmental Legislation

Automobile Safety Belt Use

Clark University

Wataru Inoue

Clark University

Seymour Wapner

Clark University

Shinji Ishii

Hiroshima University, Japan

Hirofumi Minani

Hiroshima University, Japan

Satoru Nishiyama

Hiroshima University, Japan

Takiji Yamamoto

Hiroshima University, Japan

Cultural differences in automobile safety belt use were investigated prior to and following the initiation of mandatory safety belt legislation in two independent studies, one in Massachusetts (United States) and the second in Hiroshima (Japan). Comparison of the pattern of findings in these studies indicated cultural differences over time. In both sociocultural contexts, there was an increase in drivers' use of safety belts on the highway and in the city from the test occasion prior to passage of the law to the test occasion immediately following legislation. However, whereas the usage rates began to level off and remained constant or increased further in Hiroshima, they continued to decrease steadily in Massachusetts. Further, a significant number of the Massachusetts participants voiced their concern that mandatory safety belt legislation was an invasion of privacy/infringement on human rights, which ultimately resulted in repeal of the legislation and further decrease in safety belt use. No parallel phenomenon was manifest among the Japanese.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 4, 468-487 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022192234004


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