In studying the effect of culture on learned helplessness a group of researchers tested two different classes; one in the US, and one in Japan. Half of each were given a more difficult exam on which they naturally struggled. The final half of the test was to be purportedly conducted on computers but a computer crash was staged during which the students were offered a chance to study.

In the US those who had been given the harder test and subsequently performed poorly studied less than the rest of their class. This was the exact opposite approach to that of the Japan students. Those in the Japanese class who found the first half difficult studied even hard.

This is currently understood to be representative of the fact that Japanese culture prizes the collective. This means people feel the need to catch up with those around them - effort is understood to pay off. In the US the individual is placed above all and therefore a person internalises that this must not be an innate talent and sees no reason to try harder to keep up with the class.