Is self-enhancement negatively related to constructive self-criticism? Self-enhancement and self-criticism in Israel and in Japan

This study investigates the relations between self-enhancement and constructive self-criticism as reflected in retrospective descriptions of past failures given by Israeli and Japanese university students. The implications of these failures were also described by the participants. The study claims that although self-enhancement is negatively related to emotional self-criticism, it is unrelated to constructive self-criticism. It was found that (a) self-enhancement is negatively related to emotional reaction to failures, and (b) the strength of the emotional reaction to failure is negatively related to constructive self-criticism. Results show that in both cultures, self-enhancement was negatively related to emotional self-criticism but not to constructive self-criticism. Cross-cultural differences supported the same trend - Israelis did not display a lower level of constructive self-criticism than did the Japanese. Qualitative differences between reported failures in the two cultures confirm the centrality of others in the Japanese culture.