Amae and Its Hierarchy of Love

DOI IR (HANDLE) Web Site Open Access

Search this article

Description

Takeo Doi discovered that Japanese people can beautifully illustrate the undifferentiated oral state of mind by using the word "Amae". When one answers to the other's requesting love of Amae by giving active love, Amae, which is said to be a passive desire, really corresponds to a positive adjustment of the mother, or substitute mother. The author's interest lies in the hierarchical relationship of the characters involved in the Amae situation. Following the discussions from the viewpoint of language, the author concludes that Japanese words of love or Amae mean to give love from the higher to the lower. Under this hierarchy of love, the lower's love to the higher turn out to be neglected and it eventually makes Amae, in which children may ask for love from adults, conspicuous. In the author's opinion, it is very possible the idea of a child’s loving his/her parent had been suppressed linguistically, but Doi didn't take hierarchy of love into consideration in his Amae theory.

Journal

  • 九州大学心理学研究

    九州大学心理学研究 10 225-230, 2009-03-31

    Faculty of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top