Technology and Tolerance in Japan: Internet Use and Positive Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Foreigners

Abstract

To explore the relationship between Internet use and social tolerance in Japan, I draw on the contact hypothesis, which argues of the positive effects of exposure to diverse others on intergroup tolerance. Logistic regression results of the 2003 Japanese General Social Survey data show that Internet use is positively associated with both attitudinal and behavioral tolerance toward foreigners: Internet users are more likely to support an increase in foreigners in their community and to befriend them. Critics of the contact hypothesis question its ability to parse out selection bias: i.e. tolerance leads to contact and not vice versa. That Internet use remains significant after controlling for both a propensity for tolerance and offline contact with a foreigner suggests a strong relationship between online activity and social tolerance. However, data limitations preclude the ability to determine the causal direction between Internet use and tolerance. Thus, these findings should be interpreted as suggestive rather than definitive.