The originally Japanese phenomenon of hikikomori, or being socially withdrawn, has been identified in several countries across the world. This qualitative study describes meanings ascribed by self-defined hikikomoris to family and communication. aims at producing knowledge that can be used professionals education, health care social services support counsel withdrawn individuals. data were coll...

In their 2016 commentary on our theorizing about how youth withdrawal from economic and social participation in Japanese society (i.e., NEET and Hikikomori phenomena) stems from generational inequality of economic opportunities, Varnum and Kwon correctly point out that our explanation for withdrawal is yet untested. They then offered an alternative, evolutionary psychological explanation for wi...