Honors Program Theses

Award/Availability

Open Access Honors Program Thesis

First Advisor

Melinda Heinz

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how cultural perceptions of aging influence the structure and delivery of care for older adults in Japan and the United States. By comparing cultural attitudes, this study identifies implications for senior care in each country. While cross-cultural studies comparing senior care systems already exist, many lack the cultural context that shapes expectations about aging and care. This work focuses on this distinction. Ten individuals ranging in age from 21 to 83 participated in interviews about their perceptions of aging: five with an American background and five with a Japanese background. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, then analyzed using Braun and Clark’s (2020) six-step thematic approach. Results revealed 2 major themes: (1) Perception of burden with a subtheme of Fear of Burdening Others and (2) Perception of successful aging with a subtheme of Aging as Contentment vs. Aging as Engagement. U.S. participants reflected an individualistic fear of dependency; in contrast, Japanese participants displayed a more relational concern about their dependency burdening others. Both cultures valued autonomy as a standard of successful aging, but differing cultural perceptions of successful aging were present. U.S. participants emphasized contentment and settling down, whereas Japanese participants emphasized actively maintaining health and social connections. These findings indicate that cultural beliefs about burden and autonomy influence family expectations, how/when older adults seek care, and how dependency is experienced. Recognizing these differences is especially critical as both countries experience rapid growth of their aging population and will continue to depend on culturally informed care models for these older adults.

Year of Submission

2026

Department

Department of Educational Administration and Counseling

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Date Original

2026

Object Description

1 PDF file (30 pages)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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