The phenomena of NEET and Hikikomori (N/H) in Japan have attracted growing attention
both by social scientists and the media. Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) present a
novel individual difference measure meant to capture people's risk for these phenomena.
Their newly developed NEET/Hikikomori Risk (NHR) scale provides a tool to assess the
psychological tendencies associated with these forms of social and occupational withdrawal.
Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) speculate about the potential causes of NHR and N/H
including globalization, the importation of individualism in traditionally collectivist
contexts, and changes in economic structure. Others have suggested that N/H is linked
to the prolonged economic recession in Japan (Ishii and Uchida, 2016). However, the
causes of N/H remain unknown. We propose that an evolutionary perspective may shed
light on why in some societies a growing number of youth withdraw from social and/or
occupational life in this fashion.
Throughout, most of our history as a species, withdrawing from social life and failing
to actively pursue resources for extended periods of time likely dramatically reduced
one's chances of survival. The fact that N/H exists at all is a testament to an incredible
degree of resource abundance. Although, N/H has been most frequently observed in Japan,
as Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) note, cases have been observed in a number of other
wealthy societies (i.e., the US, UK, South Korea, Spain, Italy). We suspect that this
syndrome may be more common in these societies than in societies characterized by
high levels of resource scarcity. Although, systematic large scale studies comparing
prevalence rates of N/H across societies have not been conducted, we would predict
that such rates would be positively correlated with both GDP per capita and the degree
to which social assistance policies are generous.
Uchida and Norasakkunkit (2015) also suggest that marginalized youth may be more likely
to engage in deviant behaviors in societies other than Japan, whereas they may be
more likely to become N/H in Japan. We would agree with this prediction but for different
reasons than those outlined by the authors. In more resource scarce environments,
we predict that young people who fail to gain status, resources, and friends/mates
through socially approved means may be more likely to seek other paths to acquire
them (such as theft, violence, prostitution, and other illegal activities) rather
than withdrawing. In more desperate ecologies, ceasing to pursue such goals is more
likely to jeopardize one's prospects of survival. The countries in which N/H has been
documented with some frequency are all characterized by varying degrees of social
safety nets and generally high levels of wealth, making withdrawing from economic
and social life, and surviving for a prolonged period a feasible possibility. Thus,
one might expect that higher scores on the NHR scale would be more closely linked
to withdrawing from social and occupational life in richer societies, whereas higher
scores on the NHR scale might be linked to engaging a range of illicit behaviors in
poorer societies.
Beyond the fairly obvious observation that resources must be fairly abundant in a
society for an individual to engage in these forms of withdrawal and survive, there
is a deeper reason to believe resource abundance is related to N/H—namely Life History
Theory (Del Giudice et al., 2015). In humans, a fast life history strategy involves
a suit of tendencies including a preference for immediate rewards, impulsivity, overeating,
more aggressive, and criminal behavior, and earlier and more frequent reproduction,
whereas a slow life history strategy in characterized by greater investment in long
term outcomes, investment in education and other types of skill acquisition, delayed
reproduction, and greater parental investment (Figueredo et al., 2005, 2006; Brumbach
et al., 2009; Griskevicius et al., 2011a,b; Simpson et al., 2012; Hill et al., 2016a,b).
Different life history strategies are adaptive under different ecological conditions.
Key ecological factors linked to life history strategies include resource scarcity
(Griskevicius et al., 2011a,b), the prevalence of infectious disease (Hill et al.,
2016a), and population density (Sng et al., submitted). Japan is characterized by
abundant resources, relatively low prevalence of infectious disease, and high population
density, all factors which push people toward slower strategies. But NEETs and Hikikomori
do not appear to be pursuing slow strategies. Nor at first glance do they appear to
pursue fast strategies (i.e., early reproduction or aggressive behavior). On the surface,
this presents a puzzle. However, it may be the case that these individuals would pursue
fast strategies if they were embedded in a context where such strategies would be
adaptive or where other ecological pressures that reduce fast strategies were not
present. Given a broader context (as is the case in Japan) in which these ecological
pressures in addition to descriptive and injunctive norms strongly discourage fast
strategies, youth who fail to achieve success in academics and/or work (i.e., those
who fail at using slow strategies) may simply not have the option or the aptitude
to adopt fast strategies. Thus, marginalization in a society with strong ecological
pressures toward slow strategies may take the form of withdrawing from competition
and interaction rather than adopting fast strategies. Withdrawal in such circumstances
might be a way of conserving one's energy when one has failed at using slow strategies
and fast strategies are not feasible. In other words, in circumstances when it is
too costly to either continue to pursue slow strategies and when fast strategies are
socially maladaptive, one might settle for securing minimal resources for somatic
maintenance at minimal cost.
NEETs and Hikikomori pose a puzzle for psychologists. Why would millions of young
people in a society choose to effectively withdraw from it? We believe that evolutionary
psychology provides a framework to begin to understand the causes of these phenomena
and why its prevalence may vary across societies.
Author contributions
All authors listed, have made substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to
the work, and approved it for publication.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial
or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.