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Children of Myanmar who behave like Japanese soldiers: A possible third element in personality

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 16:44 authored by Stevenson, I, Keil, HHJ
Among more than 750 cases of persons in Myanmar (formerly Burma) who as children claimed to remember a previous life, 24 said they had been Japanese soldiers killed in Burma during World War II. Unlike most Burmese subjects of such cases none of these children stated any personal names or addresses that might have permitted verification of their statements. However, they showed habits of dress, food preferences, industriousness, insensitivity to pain, and other behaviors unusual in Burma, but typical of Japanese people, especially Japanese soldiers during their occupation of Myanmar (Burma). The oppressive rule in Burma of the Japanese Army during World War II makes it unlikely that any Burmese parent would instigate or encourage a child to behave like a Japanese soldier. Genetic factors cannot account for the children's unusual behavior because all of them were (with two exceptions) born after 1945, when there were no Japanese in the villages of Burma. The behavioral features of these children suggest a third factor (additional to genetic ones and known environmental influences) in personality.

History

Publication title

Journal of Scientific Exploration

Volume

19

Pagination

171-183

ISSN

0892-3310

Department/School

School of Psychological Sciences

Publisher

Society for Scientific Exploration

Place of publication

USA

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in human society

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