Cultural Differences in Interoceptive Accuracy: Comparison Between Japan and Europe1

Abstract

The self is, at least partially, grounded in bodily processing. In particular, processing the physiological state of the body (i.e., interoception) plays a key role in self-consciousness and the first-person experience. The present study examined cultural differences in interoceptive processing. We focused on a behavioral measure of cardiac processing, which was assessed using a heartbeat-counting task; namely, interoceptive accuracy (IAcc). Study 1 compared IAcc scores that were previously collected in Japan and the United Kingdom and found no statistically significant differences between the cultures. Study 2 was conducted in a more elaborate manner; that is, we collected new data on IAcc from Japanese students using better-adapted task instructions, as well as possible confounds that influence IAcc (i.e., time estimation, knowledge of heart rate, and actual heart rate). We compared these data with those collected from Belgian students and found that the Japanese participants detected heartbeats more accurately than did the Europeans. The results are discussed from the perspective of cultural differences in objective self-awareness, and a self-flexibility and a bodily precision account of IAcc.