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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Characteristics of “chūnibyō” identified by a
questionnaire
Masafumi ShimodaID*, Kozo Morimoto, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Kozo Yoshimori, Ken Ohta
Respiratory Disease Center, Fukujuji Hospital, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA), Kiyose City,
Tokyo, Japan
*shimodam@fukujuji.org
Abstract
Background
“Chūnibyō” is a term that represents a distinctive, transient mental state during puberty in
Japan, but its characteristics and precise definition have not been standardized. Increased
awareness of chūnibyōcould lead to a better environment for those who experience it. This
study aimed to identify the characteristics of and problems related to chūnibyōusing an
anonymous questionnaire.
Materials and methods
An anonymous online questionnaire was conducted in February 2021 in Japan. In total, 314
volunteers completed the anonymous online questionnaire. Respondents were divided into
the chūnibyōgroup (n = 122) and the non-chūnibyōgroup (n = 192), and the questionnaire
responses were compared between the two groups. Furthermore, the responses were
compared between the chūnibyōwith problems subgroup (n = 82) and the other subgroup
(n = 232). The main outcome was the identification of the chūnibyōgroup based on the
responses to the item “I have experienced chūnibyō” or “I have been told that I exhibited
chūnibyō”.
Results
The median age of the chūnibyōgroup was 31 years old; this group was predominantly
male (n = 79, 64.8%) and had a relatively high proportion of respondents with any problems
(n = 82, 67.2%). The chūnibyōgroup had higher proportions of respondents who felt that
academic tests did not reflect their true worth (n = 58 (47.5%) vs. n = 66 (35.4%), p= 0.024),
who felt uncomfortable in the world (n = 77 (61.1%) vs. n = 67 (34.9%), p<0.001), and who
had an imaginary/fantasy friend or boyfriend/girlfriend (n = 39 (32.0%) vs. n = 10 (5.2%),
p<0.001). The results were similar between the chūnibyōwith problems subgroup and the
other subgroup. Eighty respondents (25.4%) had negative impressions of chūnibyō,
whereas twenty-one respondents (6.7%) had positive impressions.
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OPEN ACCESS
Citation: Shimoda M, Morimoto K, Tanaka Y,
Yoshimori K, Ohta K (2021) Characteristics of
“chūnibyō” identified by a questionnaire. PLoS ONE
16(11): e0260375. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.
pone.0260375
Editor: Andrew R. Dalby, University of
Westminster, UNITED KINGDOM
Received: July 5, 2021
Accepted: November 8, 2021
Published: November 24, 2021
Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the
benefits of transparency in the peer review
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editorial history of this article is available here:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260375
Copyright: ©2021 Shimoda et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
Data Availability Statement: We uploaded data
availability statement of our study as supplemental
file. Furthermore, we will provide the available data
if a request is sent to “shimodam@fukujuji.org”.
Conclusions
This study is the first to report the characteristics of chūnibyōby collecting the experiences
and thoughts of people who experienced chūnibyō.
Introduction
Chūnibyō” is a term that was coined to represent a distinctive, transient mental state that can
occur during puberty in Japan [1–4]. The concept of chūnibyōwas developed on a radio pro-
gram in the 1990s and spread rapidly during the 2000s [5]. “Chū-ni” means the eighth-grade
period, and “byō” means a disease; therefore, chūnibyōis translated into “eighth-grader syn-
drome” [6] or “eighth-grade disease” [1]. However, chūnibyōis not a disease classified in the
International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) [7]. The behaviours that are
characteristic of chūnibyō, such as attempts to make oneself look more important, can be
observed during pubertal emotional development [1,5,8,9], and the behaviours associated with
chūnibyōare generally resolved spontaneously after puberty [4,5]. Those behaviours are differ-
ent from usual changes experienced during puberty. People with chūnibyōact aggressive, defi-
ant, delusional, withdrawn, boastful, and/or in ways that refer to characters specific to
Japanese culture, such as those found in anime, manga, cosplay, and gaming, which draw on
teenage fantasies about temporarily possessing supernatural powers during puberty [1,5,6].
For example, people with chūnibyōsometimes apply a bandage to an uninjured arm to “seal
in” the power granted them by a devil, insist that they can see a supernatural being, and call
themselves elevated names such as “Researcher” and “Dream Soldier” [1,4]. Some people expe-
rience the following problems associated with chūnibyō: poor communication skills, stress
without a specific cause, bullying, remaining chūnibyōeven as an adult, and others [1,2,4,5].
Since chūnibyōis not disease, interest in chūnibyōis low, and sufficient countermeasures have
not been taken for children with chūnibyō. If people are more aware of chūnibyō, families,
teachers, friends, and adults around children with chūnibyōmight be able to provide a better
environment. However, no study has reported the characteristics of chūnibyōin detail, and
the definition of chūnibyōhas not been standardized. Therefore, we conducted an anonymous
questionnaire regarding chūnibyōand identified the characteristics of chūnibyōby investigat-
ing the problems experienced due to chūnibyō.
Materials and methods
Study design and setting
This study was conducted with 337 adult volunteers (age�20 years old) in February 2021. All
respondents replied to an anonymous online questionnaire in Japanese, which is translated
into English in Table 1. Respondents were recruited via the Fukujuji Hospital Respiratory Dis-
ease Center official blog; social networking services (SNSs) such as Twitter, Facebook, Insta-
gram, and LINE; and internet bulletin boards. Respondents were divided into a chūnibyō
group (n = 122) and a non-chūnibyōgroup (n = 192), and the answers to the questions were
compared between the two groups. Furthermore, the answers to the questions were compared
between a chūnibyōwith problems subgroup (n = 82) and the others group (n = 232). Ten
respondents who did not provide their informed consent and thirteen respondents who had
been diagnosed with a psychiatric disease in middle/high school were excluded. The flowchart
of the study is shown in Fig 1. Informed consent was obtained from all respondents, although
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Funding: The authors received no specific funding
for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Abbreviations: AUC, the area under the receiver
operating characteristic curve; Cl, confidence
interval; ICD-11, International Classification of
Diseases 11th Revision; IQR, interquartile range; Q,
question; ROC, receiver operating characteristic;
SNS, social networking service.
Table 1. The English translation of the questionnaire used in the study.
Question A Answer
QA-1. What is your age? Age
QA-2. What is your gender? • male
• female
QA-3. Did you experience chūnibyōduring your middle/high
school years?
• Yes
• No
• I do not think I did, but I was told I did.
• I am not sure if I did, and nobody told me I
did.
QA-4. Have you had any problems due to chūnibyōor any other
problems related to puberty? (Multiple answers are allowed)
• No nor have I experienced chūnibyō.
• I had difficulties communicating.
• Relationships with family and/or friends
deteriorated.
• I felt stressed with no clear cause.
• I was picked on for experiencing chūnibyō.
• I was bullied.
• I became socially withdrawn and/or
unemployed.
• I still experience chūnibyōnow.
• Other
QA-5. Do you have any embarrassing experiences you would like
to erase? Is it a bad memory?
• Yes, it was both embarrassing and bad.
• Yes, it was embarrassing, but the memory
itself is not bad.
• No
QA-6. Did you have any diseases that required a visit to the
hospital?
• No
• Internal disease
• Surgery
• Dermatological, otorhinolaryngologic,
urological, or ophthalmic disease
• Psychiatric disorder
• Other
Question B: Please answer the questions below while thinking
back on your chūnibyō(or middle/high school) days.
QB-1. Did you ever think that academic tests were not enough to
measure your true abilities?
• Yes
• No
QB-2. Did you ever feel that something was wrong with the
world?
• Yes
• No
QB-3. Did you call yourself something other than “Boku”/”Ore”
if male or “Watasi”/”Atasi” if female?
• Yes
• No
QB-4. Did you have any imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/
girlfriends?
• Yes
• No
QB-5. Have you ever confessed your love to others, or have
others ever confessed their love to you when you were middle/
high school students?
• Yes
• No
QB-6. If someone had told you that you had chūnibyōwhen you
were an adolescent, how would you have reacted? (Multiple
answers are allowed)
• Accepted it
• Rejected it
• Felt good about it.
• Had a negative reaction.
All respondents replied to this anonymous online questionnaire in Japanese.
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signatures were not collected because the questionnaire was anonymous. We obtained partici-
pant consent through respondents selecting a checkbox indicating their intention to agree in
an online questionnaire. This study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board
of Fukujuji Hospital (Study number: 20064).
Definition
Respondents were classified in the chūnibyōgroup if they answered “Yes” or “I do not think I
am chūnibyō, but I was told I was chūnibyō” to question (Q) A-3 “Did you experience
chūnibyōduring your middle/high school years?”. Respondents were classified in the non-
chūnibyōgroup if they answered “No” or “I am not sure if I was chūnibyō, and nobody told
me that I was” to QA-3. Respondents in the chūnibyōgroup were classified in the chūnibyō
with problems subgroup if they answered yes to the QA-4: “Have you had any problems due to
chūnibyōor any other problems related to puberty?”. Respondents in the chūnibyōgroup who
replied “No, nor have I experienced chūnibyō” to QA-4 and respondents in the non-chūnibyō
group were classified in the other group. QB-3 asked, “Did you call yourself something other
than “Boku”/”Ore” if you are male or “Watasi”/”Atasi” if you are female?”. Japanese have
many types of first-person pronouns. Generally, males call themselves “boku” or”ore”, and
females call themselves “watasi” or”atasi” [10]. However, some people call themselves different
terms, such as their first name, “sessha”, “assi”, “oira”, “soregasi”, “boku (for females)”, or oth-
ers to indicate their unique character [2,11].
Statistical methods
All data were analysed and processed using EZR, version 1.53 [12]. Student’s t tests, Mann-
Whitney U tests, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare differences between groups. A
receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed, and the area under the receiver
operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated for each predictive model. ROC curves
were used to determine the cut-off values. The AUC is an accurate measure of the predictive
ability of a model. The level of statistical significance was set at p= 0.05 (2-tailed).
Fig 1. The flowchart of the study. QA-3: Did you experience chūnibyōduring your middle/high school years?
Respondents who replied “Yes” or “I do not think I did, but I was told I did.” were classified in the chūnibyōgroup,
and respondents who replied “No” or “I am not sure if I did, and nobody said I did” were classified in the non-
chūnibyōgroup. QA-4: Have you had any problems due to chūnibyōor any other problems related to puberty?
Respondents who selected items other than “No nor have I had chūnibyō” were classified in the other group, and the
rest were classified in the chūnibyōwith problems group.
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Results
Characteristics of the chūnibyōgroup: Comparisons with the
characteristics of the non-chūnibyōgroup
Among 314 respondents, 122 respondents (38.9%) were identified as belonging to the
chūnibyōgroup, and 192 respondents (61.1%) were identified as belonging to the non-
chūnibyōgroup (Table 2). The median age was not significantly different between the
chūnibyōgroup and the non-chūnibyōgroup (median age of 31 years (interquartile range
(IQR) 26–37) vs. median 31 years (IQR 26–40), p= 0.740). Seventy-nine of the 122 respon-
dents in the chūnibyōgroup (64.8%) were male, which was a greater proportion than in the
non-chūnibyōgroup (n = 96 (50.0%), p= 0.011). There was a significantly greater proportion
of respondents in the chūnibyōgroup who reported having any problems due to chūnibyōor
any other problems related to puberty (n = 82 (67.2%) vs. 27 (14.1%), p<0.001). In the
chūnibyōgroup, feeling stressed with no clear cause was the most common problem (n = 43,
35.2%), and many respondents also had difficulties communicating (n = 30, 24.6%) and had
experienced the deterioration of their relationships with family and/or friends (n = 28, 23.0%).
Twenty-one respondents in the chūnibyōgroup (17.2%) still experienced chūnibyōas adults.
Having experienced any embarrassment was not significantly different between the chūnibyō
group and the non-chūnibyōgroup (n = 105 (86.1%) vs. n = 139 (72.4), p= 0.507), although a
greater proportion of the respondents in the chūnibyōgroup perceived the embarrassing expe-
rience to be a bad memory (n = 60 (49.2%) vs. n = 66 (34.4%), p= 0.010). There were signifi-
cantly more respondents in the chūnibyōgroup who “thought that academic tests were not
enough to measure their true abilities” (QB-1) (n = 58 (47.5%) vs. n = 66 (35.4%), p= 0.024),
“felt that something was wrong with the world” (QB-2) (n = 77 (61.1%) vs. n = 67 (34.9%),
Table 2. Comparisons between the chūnibyōgroup and the non-chūnibyōgroup.
Chūnibyōgroup
(n = 122)
Non-“chūnibyō” group
(n = 192)
p-value
Age, median (IQR), years 31 (26–37) 31 (26–40) 0.740
Sex (male/female) 79/43 96/96 0.011
QA-4 Have you had any problems due to chūnibyōor any other problems related to puberty?, n (%) 82 (67.2) 27 (14.1) <0.001
Difficulty communicating, n (%) 30 (24.6) 9 (4.7) <0.001
Deterioration of relationships with family and/or friends, n (%) 28 (23.0) 5 (2.6) <0.001
Stressed with no clear cause, n (%) 43 (35.2) 12 (6.3) <0.001
Picked on for experiencing chūnibyō, n (%) 3 (2.5) 0 (0.0) 0.058
Bullied, n (%) 10 (8.2) 3 (1.6) 0.007
Became socially withdrawn and/or unemployed, n (%) 2 (1.6) 0 (0.0) 0.150
Still experienced chūnibyōin adulthood, n (%) 21 (17.2) 0 (0.0) <0.001
Other, n (%) 9 (7.4) 9 (4.7) 0.330
QA-5 Had any embarrassing experiences, n (%) 105 (86.1) 139 (72.4) 0.632
The memory is bad, n (%) 60 (49.2) 66 (34.4) 0.010
The memory itself is not bad, n (%) 46 (37.7) 73 (38.0) 1.000
QB-1, Agreed that academic tests were not enough to measure their true abilities, n (%) 58 (47.5) 66 (34.4) 0.024
QB-2 Agreed that they felt that there was something wrong with the world, n (%) 77 (61.1) 67 (34.9) <0.001
QB-3 Called themselves something other than “Boku”/”Ore” if male or “Watasi”/”Atasi” if female, n
(%)
34 (27.9) 46 (24.0) 0.507
QB-4 Had imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends, n (%) 39 (32.0) 10 (5.2) <0.001
QB-5 Confessed their love to others or had others confess their love to them when they were middle/
high school students, n (%)
86 (70.5) 148 (77.1) 0.232
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p<0.001), and “had any imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends” (QB-4) (n = 39
(32.0%) vs. n = 10 (5.2%), p<0.001). Regarding QB-6, which asked, “If someone had told you
that you were chūnibyōwhen you were an adolescent, how would you have reacted?”, 63
respondents in the chūnibyōgroup (51.3%) and 45 respondents in the non-chūnibyōgroup
(23.4%) indicated that they would have accepted that evaluation, 37 respondents in the
chūnibyōgroup (30.3%) and 109 respondents in the non-chūnibyōgroup (56.8%) indicated
that they would have rejected that evaluation, 8 respondents in the chūnibyōgroup (6.6%) and
13 respondents in the non-chūnibyōgroup (6.8%) indicated that they would have felt posi-
tively about that evaluation, and 37 respondents in the chūnibyōgroup (30.3%) and 43 respon-
dents in the non-chūnibyōgroup (22.4%) indicated that would have had a negative reaction.
Characteristics of the chūnibyōwith problems subgroup: Comparisons
with the characteristics of the other group
Eighty-two respondents (26.1%) were classified in the chūnibyōwith problems subgroup,
while 232 respondents were classified in the other group (Table 3). In the chūnibyōwith prob-
lems subgroup, the median age was 33 years old (IQR 26–38), and there were 51 males
(62.2%); the age and sex distributions did not differ between the chūnibyōwith problems sub-
group and the other group (age: median 31 years old (IQR 26–39), p= 0.445, male: n = 124
(53.4%), p= 0.196). There were significantly greater proportions of respondents in the
chūnibyōwith problems subgroup who “thought that academic tests were not enough to mea-
sure their true abilities” (QB-1) (n = 43 (52.4%) vs. n = 81 (34.9%), p= 0.006), “felt that some-
thing was wrong with the world” (QB-2) (n = 61 (74.4%) vs. n = 83 (35.8%), p<0.001), and
“had any imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends” (QB-4) (n = 27 (32.9%) vs.
n = 22 (9.5%), p<0.001).
Development of a predictive score to identify chūnibyō
We developed a predictive score to identify chūnibyō, which included the following three vari-
ables: thinking that academic tests were not enough to measure their true abilities, feeling that
something was wrong with the world, and having any imaginary/fantasy friends or boy-
friends/girlfriends. Each variable was assigned a value of 1 point; thus, the maximum total
score was 3 points. The ROC of the score is shown in Fig 2. The AUC was 0.721 (95% confi-
dence interval (Cl) 0.658–0.784). When the cut-off value was 2 points or more, the sensitivity,
specificity, and odds ratio were 59.8%, 76.3%, and 4.75 (95% Cl 2.70–8.46), respectively.
Table 3. Comparisons between people who experienced problems due to chūnibyōand others.
Problems due to chūnibyō
(n = 82)
Others
(n = 232)
p-value
Age, median (IQR), years 33 (26–38) 31 (26–39) 0.445
Sex (male/female) 51/31 124/108 0.196
QA-5 Had any embarrassing experiences, n (%) 69 (84.1) 176 (75.9) 0.162
QB-1 Agreed that academic tests were not enough to measure their true abilities, n (%) 43 (52.4) 81 (34.9) 0.006
QB-2 Agreed that they felt that there was something wrong with the world, n (%) 61 (74.4) 83 (35.8) <0.001
QB-3 Called themselves something other than “Boku”/”Ore” if male or “Watasi”/”Atasi” if female, n (%) 21 (25.6) 59 (25.4) 1.000
QB-4 Had imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends, n (%) 27 (32.9) 22 (9.5) <0.001
QB-5 Confessed their love to others or had others confess their love to them when they were middle/high
school students, n (%)
56 (68.3) 178 (76.7) 0.142
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Discussion
This study was performed to identify the characteristics of chūnibyōby collecting the experi-
ences and thoughts of people who considered themselves or who others considered to be
chūnibyōthrough an anonymous questionnaire because a standard definition of chūnibyōhas
not been developed. The chūnibyōgroup was predominantly male and had experienced more
problems. Chūnibyōwas characterized by feeling that academic tests did not reflect true
worth, feeling uncomfortable in the world, and having imaginary/fantasy friends or boy-
friends/girlfriends. Many people in both the chūnibyōand non-chūnibyōgroups had
negative impressions of chūnibyō. The score, which included feeling that academic tests
did not reflect their true worth, feeling uncomfortable in the world, and having imaginary/
fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends, was developed to identify people who experience
problems due to chūnibyō. The score had a high AUC, and a high sensitivity, specificity, and
odds ratio were obtained when the cut-off value was 2 points or more. This knowledge might
be useful for identifying children with chūnibyōand helping them establish a better
environment.
Fig 2. The ROC of the predictive score for the identification of chūnibyō.The score included the following three
variables: Thinking that academic tests were not enough to measure their true abilities, feeling that something was
wrong with the world, and having any imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girlfriends. Each variable was assigned
a value of 1 point; thus, the maximum total score was 3 points. The AUC was 0.721 (95%Cl 0.658–0.784). When the
cut-off value was 2 points or more, the sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratio were 59.8%, 76.3%, and 4.75 (95% Cl
2.70–8.46), respectively. ROC: Receiver operating characteristic, AUC: The area under the receiver operating
characteristic curve, Cl: Confidence interval.
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Characteristics of chūnibyō
Generally, children in puberty experience stress because of isolation from their parents and
teachers, during which time their physical development continues [5,9]. Some children have a
high opinion of their own competence based on an underestimation of the value of others and
intense self-involvement, and they alternate between high expectations and a poor perception
of their identity [9,13]. More than their actual ability or the desire for approval, this high self-
evaluation can lead to the development of chūnibyōin children during puberty [5]. Japanese
“chū-ni” (eight-grade) students have an abundance of time for self-reflection [5]. In Japan, sev-
enth-grade students have just entered middle school and need to adapt to their new environ-
ment, and nine-grade students are in the process of preparing to take high school entrance
examinations [5]. However, “chū-ni” students have a relatively large amount of free time
because they have already become accustomed to their school, and they have not yet started to
prepare for high school entrance examinations in earnest [5]. In our study, many people in the
chūnibyōgroup thought academic tests did not reflect their true worth and felt uncomfortable
in the world, which may indicate an imbalance between reality and their self-evaluation. A dif-
ference between their scores on academic tests and their ideals could affect their self-esteem;
therefore, people with chūnibyōdeny the value of academic tests and the world [4,5]. Further-
more, people with chūnibyōsometimes act distinctively and stand out from others [4]. A
higher proportion of those in the chūnibyōgroup reported having imaginary/fantasy friends
or boyfriends/girlfriends. They usually know that their imaginary/fantasy friends and boy-
friends/girlfriends are fictional and simply use them to set themselves apart from others [4].
Therefore, the chūnibyōbehaviour of having imaginary/fantasy friends or boyfriends/girl-
friends is different from a delusion due to schizophrenia [14].
Our study did not show a significant difference between the chūnibyōgroup and the non-
chūnibyōgroup in the personal pronouns used or in their love confessed for another person.
Variations in first-person pronouns might seem to be a characteristic of chūnibyō, given the
desire to set themselves apart from others [4]; however, the selection of various personal pro-
nouns might be common during puberty. We thought that people with chūnibyōmight strug-
gle to confess their love for another person due to their poor communication skills; however,
apparently, people with chūnibyōcan confess their love. Additionally, having embarrassing
experiences was also not significantly different in our study. Generally, it has been considered
that having embarrassing experiences, called “Kurorekisi” in Japanese, is common for people
with chūnibyō[4,5]. Our study revealed that even people without chūnibyōhave embarrassing
experiences, although people with chūnibyōtend to perceive those experiences as bad memo-
ries. In the chūnibyōgroup, 40 of the 122 respondents had never had any problems due to
chūnibyō. We believe that having any problems due to chūnibyōcould be associated with the
severity of chūnibyō.
Chūnibyōis not disease
People with chūnibyōwho experience problems are a particularly important subgroup. There
has been no report describing which problems affect people with chūnibyō, and our study is
the first to report these problems. In our study, approximately two-thirds of the chūnibyō
group had experienced any problems related to chūnibyō, including feeling stressed with no
clear cause, having poor communication skills, and experiencing the deterioration of relation-
ships. These features seem to be similar to those of autism spectrum disorder [15]. Although
chūnibyōcannot be denied to be part of mild autism spectrum disorder, many people experi-
ence chūnibyō, and they can live a social life without problems related to chūnibyōwhen they
grow up. Therefore, chūnibyōis not considered a psychiatric disorder [2,4,7], and it might be
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considered to distinguish between chūnibyōand autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore,
chūnibyōis not characterized by neurodevelopmental disorders, episodes of self-harm, the
deterioration of motor skills, attention deficits or careless mistakes; therefore, it is different
from other psychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality
disorder, Rett syndrome, and others [16–18]. If chūnibyōcan be detected, it might help adults,
such as parents and teachers, establish a better environment for the children. Therefore, it is
important to identify the characteristics of chūnibyōbecause children who experience
chūnibyōsometimes struggle to accept that fact. Indeed, approximately one-third of the
respondents in the chūnibyōgroup responded to the question “If someone had told you that
you were chūnibyōwhen you were an adolescent, how would you have reacted?” that they
would have rejected the statement. Therefore, a predictive score that could be used to identify
adolescents who were likely to experience problems associated with chūnibyōwas developed.
The score might also be useful to identify people who are likely to remain chūnibyōafter
puberty, although chūnibyōis generally resolved after puberty or school [5]. According to one
theory, it is not that chūnibyōresolves but rather that adults are successful at hiding their
excessive self-consciousness [5]. An awareness of chūnibyōon the part of those affected by it
might be an important step in the resolution of problems associated with chūnibyō. However,
caution should be exerted owing to the negative impression of chūnibyōthat many people
affected by it have. We believe that adults who interact with children with chūnibyōwho expe-
rience any problems should notice and accept the mental changes in these children and indi-
rectly help the children to become aware of their chūnibyō. We also believe that no
intervention is necessary when children with chūnibyōdo not experience any associated prob-
lems. Importantly, chūnibyōis not a disease but a transient expression of individuality, and
ridicule should be avoided.
Chūnibyōin other countries
The unique behaviours that are characteristic of chūnibyō, such as the application of a bandage
to “seal in” the power granted them by a devil, insisting that they can see a supernatural being,
and calling themselves special names, seem to refer to anime, manga, cosplay, and gaming.
Chūnibyōmight be related to aspects of Japanese culture [1,4,5]. However, we do not believe
that Japanese culture adversely affects children during puberty, although there are dissenting
opinions [19,20], and we do not believe that people with chūnibyōare abnormal or harmful.
Because chūnibyōis thought to be based on high self-evaluation and the desire for approval
during puberty [3–5], even without the effect of the aforementioned forms of media, children
with chūnibyōmay appear as a different phenotype. Furthermore, the culture and the social
climate generally influence each other [21]; hence, many forms of media such as anime,
manga, cosplay, and gaming may conversely refer to people with chūnibyō. Recently, Japanese
culture has started to spread globally [22], and chūnibyōmay become a common problem in
many countries other than Japan in the future. While the existence of ethnic differences in
chūnibyōis unclear, the environment also influences adolescents through their experiential
realities, which impact their well-being and mental health [23]. Therefore, if environments in
the world are influenced by the spread of Japanese culture, people with chūnibyōmight be
identified in other countries in the near future. However, it is an assumption without any evi-
dence. Japanese culture has spread to various parts of the world, and many children and teen-
agers are addicted to Japanese games or anime. Therefore, negative impacts that are similar to
the symptoms of Chūnibyōmay occur.
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Characteristics of “chūnibyō” identified by a questionnaire
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Limitations
This investigation had several limitations. It was conducted as an online survey, and respon-
dents were recruited on a blog, SNSs, and internet bulletin boards. The definition of chūnibyō
was based on either a self-report or a previous statement made by others; therefore, some of
the respondents in the non-chūnibyōgroup could have actually belonged to the chūnibyō
group. Furthermore, all respondents were adults aged 20 years or older, and we identified
respondents who had experienced chūnibyōin the past. We believed that children could not
be evaluated with regard to chūnibyōbecause they might not be aware of experiencing
chūnibyō[4] or they might reject their own experience of chūnibyō, as shown in this study.
Conclusion
The study is the first to report the characteristics of chūnibyōby collecting the experiences and
thoughts of people considered to be chūnibyō. Adults who interact with children with
chūnibyōmay be able to support these children’s mental health if they are aware of the charac-
teristics of chūnibyō.
Supporting information
S1 Data.
(XLSX)
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Masafumi Shimoda.
Data curation: Masafumi Shimoda, Kozo Morimoto, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Kozo Yoshimori.
Formal analysis: Masafumi Shimoda.
Investigation: Masafumi Shimoda.
Methodology: Masafumi Shimoda, Kozo Morimoto.
Project administration: Ken Ohta.
Software: Masafumi Shimoda.
Supervision: Masafumi Shimoda, Kozo Morimoto, Ken Ohta.
Validation: Masafumi Shimoda.
Visualization: Masafumi Shimoda.
Writing – original draft: Masafumi Shimoda.
Writing – review & editing: Masafumi Shimoda, Kozo Morimoto.
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PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260375 November 24, 2021 11 / 11
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