ABSTRACT
The teenage suicide rate in Japan during the 1950s was nearly four times that found in the United States. Students in Taiwan indicated somewhat more frequent depression than American and Japanese students but there was no strong indication of widespread depression among the students from any of the cultures. Cross-cultural differences were also small for feelings of anxiety and aggression. The teachers reported that children in China, in comparison with children in the United States, less frequently did not want to go to school, were disorganized or nervous, and wanted their parents to stay with them. East-Asian and US classrooms have seldom been compared in formal observational studies employing standard observational schemes. Contrary to popular stereotypes, East-Asian teaching is dynamic and interactive. The teacher is an authority but this authority is used to stimulate learning with understanding, not to discipline or coerce rote memorization.
