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The purposes of this study were: 1) to modify the Exercise Motivation Scale (EMS: Fujita, Sato, & Moriguchi, 2010) which has its theoretical basis on self-determination theory (SDT) in order to adapt it to the academic field; 2) to confirm the factor structure of every subscale of Academic Performance Motivation Scale (APMS) (the revised version of EMS); 3) to evaluate the relationship between the students’ motivation styles for academic activities and their psychological well-being; and 4) to examine the relationship between motivation styles and academic achievement level, using data from self-report questionnaire results obtained from 162 college students in Japan. The 26 items in EMS were modified to accommodate to the academic activities, and all of them were adopted in APMS after confirming the content validity. Single-factor structure of all six subscales: Intrinsic Motivation, Integrated Regulation, Identified Regulation, Introjected Regulation, External Regulation, and A-Motivation, was confirmed by CFA. Mental health impairment, academic stress, and perceived social support were applied as indices of psycho-logical well-being. To assess the academic achievement level, the respondents were asked whether they had had to retake at least one examination and/or re-peat a year during the last twelve months. Consistent with SDT, the motivation styles with higher levels of autonomy and integration were related to high perceived social support. On the contrary, the motivation styles with lower levels of autonomy and integration were related to poor mental health, in-creased academic stress, and low perceived social support. It was not concluded whether academic achievement is related to motivation style.

Under the socially critical situations, an individual’s personality pathologies tracing back to their origins a long time ago are usually exacerbated, and hidden group mentality of society as a whole is manifested. The COVID-19 outbreak, which has brought about an extremely high level of crisis all over the world, provides us with an opportunity to observe pathologies of society in addition to those of an individual more vividly, helping us understand the meanings of the pathologies. In this study, attitudes and behavioral reactions of Japanese individuals and society as a whole caused by the COVID-19 outbreak were discussed. Psychoanalytic and social psychology theories as well as self-determination theory were applied for discussing some behavioral phenomena, such as addiction behaviors and crude criticism and/or discrimination towards some particular category of people. After proposing some hypotheses regarding these attitudes and behaviors, I finally mentioned tasks with which COVID-19 challenges human society. I refer to the increased need for clinical psychiatry and psychology in contributing to society to achieve the tasks.

To study correlates of presenteeism among Japanese IT employees, a cross-sectional study in 440 employees of four IT companies were studied with a net-based questionnaire survey. A structural regression analysis revealed that presenteeism was directly associated with common mental symptoms and job strain, common mental symptoms mediated the effects of job strain and poor workplace social support as well as high Harm Avoidance and low Self-directedness and Cooperativeness upon presenteeism. IT company workers presenteeism may be a result of complicated effects of common mental symptoms, job strain and poor workplace social support, and personality traits.

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations for entry into the sex industry. The narratives of four Japanese female psychiatric patients with a past experience of sex work were used for analysis. I identified not only practical factors such as financial difficulties or lack of job skills, but also various psycho-social factors, namely: weak emotional ties with their mothers since infancy, their mothers’ tendency to prioritize sons over daughters, unremitting needs for maternal care, fear of rejection and object-seeking behavior, desire to control others, envy and aggressive self-destructive behavior, difficulties in establishing female peer relationships during adolescence, proneness to dependency on male objects through sexual relationships, past histories of crime and delinquency, weak internal motivation, frequent acting out, and addictive behaviors. In this article I discussed whether their mental maladjustment was purely the product of their past experiences as sex workers, or whether in fact both the maladjustment and the motivations for entry were derived from personality characteristics developed since infancy. Although not applicable to every Japanese sex worker, this article presents a preliminary hypothesis regarding the contribution of the above multi-dimensional factors to the motivations for entry, and the following mental maladjustment.

Based on the experiences of psychiatric patients who were in the process of rehabilitation after a significant period of rest and recuperation, the author aimed at analyzing the phenomena that facilitate as well as hinder patient maladjustment, in order to identify ways for clinical psychiatry to support patients’ rehabilitation processes. Two female patients with pathological personality traits who were in the process of rehabilitation were chosen. One attended a community center that offers employment for people with mental disorders, followed by a vocational rehabilitation center for the unemployed; the other returned to an ordinary job for which she was qualified. The author first investigated the interactions between their personalities and the group mentalities in their workplaces, and then analyzed these interactions using psychodynamic theories. The dynamic interactions between these patients’ personality pathologies and the group mentalities of the workplaces they chose for their rehabilitation seemed to play a crucial role in determining whether they experienced maladjustment or not. Various phenomena experienced by an individual in a community setting should not be ascribed solely to either the person’s personality or the community group mentality, but rather to the interaction between the two. Community centers for people with mental disorders must provide support that facilitates the accomplishment of the original purposes of the group, but also helps each group member improve their self-esteem. At the end of this article, the author argues that the narcissistic need for approval cannot be dismissed simply as pathological, but should be seen as a ubiquitous phenomenon in the contemporary Japanese ethos.

Previous Dependency Inventory (JIDI) as well demonstrates how the interpersonal attitudes assessed by the JIDI generate interpersonal negative life events (NLEs) and therefore results in dysphoric moods and poor life functioning. The subjects of this study were 467 Japanese university students. The JIDI was administered at Time 1, and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) was administered at Time 2 for the purpose of assessing dysphoric mood and life functioning. NLEs occurring between Times 1 and 2 were evaluated. The three-factor structure of the JIDI was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation modeling demonstrated that of the three factors, only one, “emotional reliance”, predisposed individuals to dysphoric mood and poor life functioning, both directly and indirectly, via interpersonal NLEs. Although the other two factors did not increase vulnerability to interpersonal NLEs or dysphoric mood, “lack of social self-confidence” worsened general functioning, and “assertion of autonomy” led to poor functioning in close relationships, both directly. Furthermore, “assertion of autonomy” decreased anxiety levels. As to gender differences, simultaneous analysis of multi-groups showed that female subjects were more likely to become anxious following interpersonal NLEs.