Japanese Prefer to Have Face-to-Face Communication in theWorkplace Even During the Pandemic

Abstract

Even under the Covid-19 pandemic, Japaneseworkers prefer to go to their workplaces physically, engaging in face-to-face communication rather than online. We provide a hypothetical explanation for this “irrational appearing” phenomenon from two theoretical perspectives. From the view of cultural leader decision making, we argue that Japanese leaders’ decision-making style would require more face-toface rather than online communication for efficient business practices. Form the view of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we show that Japanese workers also have internal motivation to have face-to-face communication for fulfilling their lower levels of needs. Finally, we discuss that these two explanations are complimentary and mutual reinforcing through the lens of cultural psychology theory.