Anti-Americanism in East Asia: Analyses of college students’ attitudes in China, Japan, and South Korea

Young Choul Kim and Ho Keun Yoo
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Young Choul Kim: Department of Law, Politics, and Society, University of Evansville, USA
Ho Keun Yoo: Department of Politics, Security, and International Relations, Cheongju University, Republic of Korea

International Area Studies Review, 2017, vol. 20, issue 1, 42-56

Abstract: In the last decade, negative attitudes towards the United States have increased throughout the world. Though the United States and East Asian countries have relatively had harmonious relationships, anti-Americanism is still prevalent for various reasons. In spite of China’s increasing economic interdependence with the United States, the country is succeeding to its long history of anti-Americanism. Although Japan and South Korea have been considered pro-United States allies since the Korean War (1950–1953), the countries’ younger generations have often expressed critical opinions of the United States. What is the cause of this anti-American sentiment in the East Asian countries? The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries using a cross-national survey. The results of the empirical analyses support previous approaches and promote four theoretical concepts: (1) the people’s knowledge and curiosity about the United States is the most influential factor of anti-American sentiment for East Asian college students (the cognitive-orientation); (2) individual’s attitudes towards American culture and society influence anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries (the cultural-cleavage); (3) anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries is mostly affected by people’s general ideas about the roles of the United States in the world and United States’ foreign policies (the anti-hegemony); and (4) the people’s general perception on the relationship between their own countries and the United States is another determinant of anti-American sentiment in East Asian countries (the equal-relationship). In contrast, it explains that gender and the financial condition of East Asian college students are not significant determinants of anti-American sentiment.

Keywords: Anti-Americanism; East Asia; hegemony; culture cleavage; equal relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:intare:v:20:y:2017:i:1:p:42-56

DOI: 10.1177/2233865916682390

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