The Ecology of Withdrawal. Commentary: The NEET and Hikikomori spectrum: Assessing the risks and consequences of becoming culturally marginalized

Frontiers in Psychology

Michael E. W. Varnum¹ 

关键词: NEET;    Hikikomori;    life history theory;    evolution;    culture;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00764

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The phenomena of NEET and Hikikomori (N/H) in Japan have attracted growing attention both by social scientists and the media. Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) present a novel individual difference measure meant to capture people's risk for these phenomena. Their newly developed NEET/Hikikomori Risk (NHR) scale provides a tool to assess the psychological tendencies associated with these forms of social and occupational withdrawal. Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) speculate about the potential causes of NHR and N/H including globalization, the importation of individualism in traditionally collectivist contexts, and changes in economic structure. Others have suggested that N/H is linked to the prolonged economic recession in Japan (Ishii and Uchida, 2016). However, the causes of N/H remain unknown. We propose that an evolutionary perspective may shed light on why in some societies a growing number of youth withdraw from social and/or occupational life in this fashion.

【 授权许可】

CC BY