Amae

Amae refers to the Amitié, in the culture of the Far East in general, and the Japan in particular.

Introduction

Base of the Japanese social relations - based on the values confucéennes of bénévolence (Latin bucket volens for " to want bien"), of courtesy, of honesty, fidelity and obedience mutual insurance companies - of the family at the civil society, the idea of " Amae" turn around the paradox of " indulgence musclée" and of " soft rigueur" … This requires very long developments in multitudes of concrete examples of its demonstrations.

Economic issues and social

One will never stress enough the importance of the friendship in the cultural approach of the Asian countries: it acts-there of an open conclusion of international Diplomatie .

In order to give an account of the importance of the friendship in the socio-economic process of a country, one can carry lighting on the concept of Créativité, too souvente reduced to unison between parts, when it is not the pretext with the Agitation: to show creativity is not " to create anything " … but to take into account the existing constraints, and to bring the new element which will make it possible to make them function…

harmoniously

Importance of the Friendship

This " reciprocity confucéenne" (see introduction) also illustrates itself in the right couple and duty which the Occident neglected with the profit of the right. Indeed, the Occident stresses the " rights of the personne" , disconnected from the " duties of the personne" present with the rights in Far East Chinese and sinicized.

Of the family to the company, the least error and the smallest failure give place to nice remarks, as a sign of encouragement, for better doing the next time while following the example of the person who made these remarks. This belonged to the bénévolence, the courtesy and honesty in the social relation. Indeed, the absence of remark expresses the indifference with the other in its control.

In Occident, these remarks are interpreted like malevolent denigrations and these remarks often remain of vague not-supported opinions which are not followed of an encouragement and effective assistances for better doing.

In the business enterprises and industrial Japanese, the work group functions on this idea of " Amae" , like these famous " circles of qualité".

In the family and for the schooling of the children, it is a whole " cirque" where it is not a question, for the parents, to send the kid in his room to make the school works, but to work with him on the kitchen table, in all user-friendliness.

In Occident, the discipline is regarded as a painful constraint. In the Far East, the discipline is personal, social and economic development tools.

The historical military example is in the relation between the " anciens" 100ème Battalion of Hawaii and " jeunots" 442 RCT of the Nippo-American S of the Second world war.

Cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amae

The typically Japanese idea of “Amae” is commonly included/understood like a “lenient dependence”. It is particularly fundamental in the production and the reproduction of the Japanese culture. The common postulate is that the Japanese social link is worked by the primal experiment mother-child. The results of this emotional order suggest a complex scenario of the confirmation of the identity of the one compared to that of the other in the mutual dependence of fusional relationship between parent-child, employer-employee, Master-disciple, etc

In psychoanalysis, Takeo DOI interprets this enigma like a mutual emotional dependence. Thus, an adult Nippo-American of alive high social status in California with his old parents would be considered, in psychoanalysis, like having disorders of Individuation, separation and even of Adulescence.

But, in the tradition confucéenne of the rights and mutual duties, it is a question of the subsidiary duty of keeping his old parents with the family household not to send them in an old people's home for elderly. See the very beautiful film the Ballade of Narayama (film, 1983) of the subsidiary duty towards his/her old parents under difficult soci-economic conditions. This subsidiary duty corresponds to the right of the child to comfort and the safety, which the parental duty towards the child answers.

The couple right-duty is in an interaction " complémentaire" in " hollow and relief" great differences. There is " antagonisme" in the “symmetrical” interaction in " miroir" competition in great similarities, as the climbing of the arms race where a thicker shield answers a more powerful arrow and like the higher bid of boastfulnesses or to an imaginary exploit answers an at least equal exploit and quite as imaginary.

" A symmetrical interaction is characterized by the equality and the minimization of the difference, while a complementary interaction is based on the maximalisation of the difference. In the complementary relation, there are two possible different positions. One of the partners occupies a position which was variously indicated like higher, first or " haute" (one-up), and the other the corresponding position known as lower, second or " basse" (one-down). These terms are very convenient provided that one does not make of them synonyms of " bon" or " mauvais" , " fort" or " faible". The social context or cultural fixes in certain cases a complementary relation (for example mother-child, doctor-patient, professor-student) or this style of relation can be specific to a given dyad. Let us underline in both cases the solidarity of this relation where behaviors dissimilar but adapted one to the other, are called reciprocally. It is not one of the partners who imposes a relation complementary to the other, each one of them behaves in a manner which presupposes, at the same time justifies, the behavior of the other; their definitions of the relation are concordantes." (Paul Watzlawick, Janet Helmick Beavin, Donald D. Jackson, " A logic of the communication" , p. 67, Threshold, Paris, 1972).

This concept of “Amae” illustrates a co-operative complementary interaction which wraps relations rivalitaires of a symmetrical interaction

The sociologist Amitai Etzioni studied the " compliance" who is an interaction complementary to the couple authority-obedience, as in that of domination-subordination and that of provider-recipient, etc

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