刷り込む

• Reading: すりこむ
• Romaji: surikomu
• Kanji breakdown: 刷 (suri) — to print, imprint; 込 (ko) — to press in deeply
• Pronunciation: /sɯ.ɾi.ko.mɯ/

Meaning

To imprint; to impress upon; to ingrain. To fix something deeply in the mind through repeated exposure or conditioning.

A Group 1 (godan) compound verb combining 刷る (to print, imprint) and 込む (to work in deeply). 刷り込む is used both in the ethological sense — 刷り込み (imprinting) in animals such as ducks — and figuratively for deeply ingrained beliefs or prejudices: 固定観念を刷り込まれる (to have fixed ideas imprinted on one). The passive form 刷り込まれる is especially common, emphasising that the conditioning is done to the subject, often without their awareness.

Examples

1. 子どもの頃に刷り込まれた価値観は大人になっても無意識に影響する。 Values imprinted in childhood continue to exert an unconscious influence even in adulthood.
2. 広告は繰り返し同じメッセージを刷り込むことで購買意欲を高める戦略をとる。 Advertising employs a strategy of heightening the desire to buy by repeatedly imprinting the same message.
3. 孵化直後のひなは最初に見た動く物体を親と認識する刷り込みが起こる。 Immediately after hatching, chicks undergo imprinting, recognising the first moving object they see as their parent.

Usage Guide

Context: psychology, advertising, education, animal behaviour, ideology

Tone: neutral to critical

Origin & History

Compound of 刷る (su-ru — to print, from the action of pressing ink onto paper) and 込む (ko-mu — to press deeply into). The printing metaphor — an image pressed permanently onto a surface — is extended to the mind. The ethological term 刷り込み was introduced to Japanese through translations of Konrad Lorenz's work.

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Educated