Week 5 Blog: Language, Culture, and Gender

Sylviane

The article on Amae in Japan seemed to clarify a number of the issues brought up in other readings concerning cross-cultural psychology. I was immediately intrigued after reading the description of what Amae is, for it is an emotion that I feel I can relate to and understand the meaning of despite the fact that I do not know of a word in English that conveys this feeling. I was surprised, though, that it is suggested that the provider of the help “feels good about granting the favor, either by feeling close to the requester or by gaining a sense of power.” The ladder reward was particularly unusual to me, not only because it is something I cannot relate to, but it seems to contradict the sentiments that I understood Amae to include. The section explaining the definition of Amae noted that approximate English translations of the word all have fairly negative connotations and that in Japan, Amae does not typically imply disapproval. Thus, I was fairly surprised that gaining a sense of control would be a component of the emotion. As I read further and considered the highly independent nature of culture in the United States, I felt that this may be a culturally unique aspect of the emotion. While I do not feel that certain emotions can only be experienced by individuals in certain cultures, it does seem likely that they can vary slightly simply because what is “appropriate” can vary from culture to culture.