Vinai Norasakkunkit, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology

Dr. Norasakkunkit's research interests are in the intersection of cultural psychology and clinical psychology. He has published extensively on studies of the psychology of globalization and youth marginalization, as well the cultural shaping of social...

Vinai Norasakkunkit

Contact Information

Education & Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts

M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts

B.S., Psychology and Economics, University of Oregon

Courses Taught

PSYC 207: Research Methods

PSYC 318: Cultural Psychology

PSYC 340: Personality Theories

PSYC 391: Culture and Mental Health Seminar


Dr. Norasakkunkit's research interests are in the intersection of cultural psychology and clinical psychology. He has published extensively on studies of the psychology of globalization and youth marginalization, as well the cultural shaping of social anxiety and happiness. Other areas of active research include investigating the cultural shaping of: attitudes towards climate change, the persistence of first impressions, moral intuitions, emotional experiences, and social cognition. Dr. Norasakkunkit teaches Cultural Psychology, Culture and Mental Health Seminar, Research Methods, and Personality Theories. Dr. Norasakkunkit also runs an active Cultural Psychology Research Lab that involves 6-12 highly motivated students every semester.

Norasakkunkit, V., Champagne, B., Prietto, K., Armour, J., Ball, C., Bigoni, H., & Cutuli, A. (2022). Precarious Lives Predict Culturally Deviant Psychologies: Extending the Psychology of Marginalization From Japan to the US. Japanese Psychological Research, 64(2), 127-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12414 (Awarded Outstanding Manuscript Award by the Japanese Psychological Association in 2023)

Matsuo, M., Brown, C., Norasakkunkit, V., & Karasawa, M. (2020). How can I become a member of my culture? Shared representations of community-related moral violations in Japan and the U.S. Culture and Brain. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40167-019-00084-z

Liu, I-TH-C., Uchida, Y. & Norasakkunkit, V. (2019) Socio-Economic Marginalization and Compliance Motivation Among Students and Freeters in Japan. Front. Psychol. 10:312. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00312

Lassiter, C., Norasakkunkit, V., Shuman, B., & Toivonen, T. (2018) Diversity and Resistance to Change: Macro Conditions for Marginalization in Post-industrial Societies. Front. Psychol. 9:812. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00812

Kirchner, A., Boiger, M., Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., Verduryn, P., & Mesquita, B. (2018). Humiliated fury is not universal: The co-occurrence of anger and shame in the U.S. and Japan. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 1317-1328.

Boiger, M., Ceulemans, E., Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., Mequita, B. (2018). Beyond essentialism: Cultural differences in emotions revisited. Emotion, 18, 1142-1162.

Norasakkunkit, V., Uchida, Y., & Takemura, K. (2017) Evaluating Distal and Proximal Explanations for Withdrawal: A Rejoinder to Varnum and Kwon’s “The Ecology of Withdrawal”. Front. Psychol. 8:2085. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02085

Kirchner, A., Boiger, M., Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., Verduryn, P., & Mesquita, B. (2018). Humiliated fury is not universal: The co-occurrence of anger and shame in the U.S. and Japan. Cognition and Emotion.

Boiger, M., Ceulemans, E., Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., Mequita, B. (2018). Beyond essentialism: Cultural differences in emotions revisited. Emotion.

Park, J., Norasakkunkit, V., & Kashima, Y. (2017). Cross-Cultural Comparison of Self-Construal and Well-Being between Japan and South Korea: The Role of Self-Focused and Other-Focused Relational Selves. Front. Psychol. 8:1516. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01516

Boiger, M., Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., & Mesquita, B. (2016). Protecting autonomy, protecting relatedness: Appraisal patterns of daily anger and shame in the United States and Japan. Japanese Psychological Research, 58, 28-41.

Norasakkunkit, V. (2016). Demotivated to align self with cultural norms. Psychological consequences of youth marginalization. Paper Presentation for the Symposium on Re-Negotiating Adulthood: Changing Ideals and Identities of Young Japanese. 75th Association of Asian Studies Conference. Seattle, WA.

Park, J., Haslam, N., Kashima, Y., & Norasakkunkit, V. (2015). Empathy, culture and self‐humanising: Empathising reduces the attribution of greater humanness to the self more in Japan than Australia. International Journal Of Psychology, doi:10.1002/ijop.12164

Uchida, Y., & Norasakkunkit, V. (2015). The NEET and Hikikomori spectrum: Assessing the risks and consequences of becoming culturally marginalized. Front. Psychol. 6:1117. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01117

Norasakkunkit, V., & Uchida, Y. (2014). To conform or to maintain self-consistency? Hikikomori risk in Japan and the deviation from seeking harmony. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 919-937.

Sato, K., Yuki, M., & Norasakkunkit, V. (2014) A Socio-Ecological Approach to Cross-Cultural Differences in the Sensitivity to Social Rejection: The Partially Mediating Role of Relational Mobility. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 10, 1549-1560.

Norasakkunkit, V., & Gulati, N. (2014). Japan. In A. Scull (Ed.), Cultural sociology of mental illness: An A-to-Z guide. (Vol. 10, pp. 433-435). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483346342.n159.

Deguchi, M. & Norasakkunkit, V. (2014). Book Review: An Overlooked Consequence of Globalization: Exporting American Notions of Mental Illness and Mental Health. Journal of American and Canadian Studies, 31, 87-99.

Uchida, Y., & Norasakkunkit, V. (2014). Asian Versus Western Views In: Michalos AC (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, pp. 248-253.

Oishi,S., Kesebir, S., Felicity, M. F., Endo, Y., Uchida, Y., Shibanai, Y., & Norasakkunkit, V. (2013). Residential mobility increases motivation to expand social network: But why? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 217-223.

Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., & Kitayama, S. (2013). Cultural Constructions of Happiness: Theory and Empirical Evidence. In Delle Fave, A. (Ed). The Exploration of Happiness: Present and Future Perspectives (Happiness Studies Book Series), 269-280. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London: Springer.

Norasakkunkit, V. (2013). A social psychological paradigm of NEET / Hikikomori. In T. Kawai, & Y. Uchida (Eds.). Hikikomori-ko. Kyoto: Sogensha. (In Japanese).

Norasakkunkit, V., Kitayama, S., & Uchida, Y. (2012). Social anxiety and holistic cognition: Self-focused social anxiety in the U.S. and other-focused social anxiety in Japan. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(5), 742-757.

Norasakkunkit, V., & Uchida, Y., (2012). Marginalized Japanese youth in post-industrial Japan: Motivational patterns, self-perceptions, and the structural foundations of shifting values. In Trommsdorff, G., & Chen, X. (Eds). Values, Religion, and Culture in Adolescent Development, pp. 211-234. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Norasakkunkit, V., Uchida, Y., & Toivonen, T. (2012). Caught between culture, society, and globalization: Youth marginalization in post-industrial Japan. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6/5, 361-378.

Norasakkunkit, V., & Uchida, Y. (2011). Psychological consequences of post-industrial anomie on self and motivation among Japanese youth. Journal of Social Issues, 67(4), 774-786.(Special issue on Psychology of Globalization).

Toivonen, T., Norasakkunkit, V., & Uchida, Y. (2011). Unable to Conform, Unwilling to Rebel? Youth, Culture and Motivation in Globalizing Japan. Frontiers in Cultural Psychology.

Norasakkunkit, V. (2010). NEET/hikikomori ni tsuite no shakaishinrigakuteki kousatsu: Geiin to taishou houryaku ni tsuite (A social psychological study on NEET/hikikomori: Causes and intervention strategies). Kokoro No Mirai, 4, 68-69.

--Toivonen, T., Norasakkunkit, V., Cassegard, C., Zielenziger, M., & Uchida, Y. (2010). Workshop: Nihon no wakamono no mondai ni tsuite no shinrigaku/shakaigakuteki kousatsu: Nihon ni okeru gaikokujin kenkyousha kara no Shiten (Workshop: Psychological and Sociological studies on Japan’s youth problems: A perspective from foreign researchers in Japan). Kokoro no Mirai, 5, 40-47.

--Toivonen, T., Norasakkunkit, V., & Uchida, Y. (2010). The social psychology of changing motivational processes: ‘Hot’ institutions vs. ‘cool’ youth in globalizing Japan. Proceedings for The Future of Work for Young Adults: A Workshop on Youth, Early Careers and Motivation. Green Templeton College: University of Oxford.

--Norasakkunkit, V., & Kalick, M.S. (2009). Experimentally detecting how cultural differences in social anxiety measures misrepresent cultural differences in emotional well-being, Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(3), 313-327.

--Lee, Y-T., Norasakkunkit, V., Liu, Li, Zhang, J, & M. Zhou (2008). Taoist altruism and wateristic personality: East and West. In Vakoch, D. (Ed)’s World Cultures eJournal, 16 (2), Article 2.

--Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., & Kitayama, S. (2004). Cultural constructions of happiness: Theory and empirical evidence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5, 223-239.

--Penney, S., Norasakkunkit, V., Leigh, J. (2002). New leaders for a new century. Building Leadership Bridges, 48-59.

--Norasakkunkit, V., & Kalick, S.M. (2002). Culture, ethnicity, and emotional distress measures: The role of self-construal and self-enhancement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33 (1), 56-70.

--Kitayama, S., Markus, H.R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72 (6), 1245-1267. (Note: This paper has been identified by Susan Fiske (2003, Psychological Inquiry, 3&4, 196-202) as a modern classic in social psychology.)