Doi T
St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo.
Psychiatr Enfant. 1991;34(1):277-84.
A concept deriving from the Japanese word amae is introduced as that which bridges dependence and attachment, two conceptually different states. The word primarily refers to what an infant feels when it seeks mother, but it can be predicated of an adult to indicate the presence of a similar feeling of being emotionally close to another. Significantly, the feeling of amae is not mediated by words, though it can be acknowledged as such on reflection. Also, when frustrated, it can easily lead to a desire for such a feeling. Two popular stories, one French and the other American, are cited to illustrate the existence of amae, in fact its central importance, even in non-Japanese contexts. The psychology of keeping pets can also be understood in terms of amae. It is thus maintained that though the concept comes from Japanese, it is universally applicable and can shed a new light on the emotional life which has been the main target of psychoanalytic investigation.
一个源自日语单词“甘え”的概念被引入，它被视为连接依赖和依恋这两种概念上不同状态的桥梁。这个词主要指婴儿寻求母亲时的感受，但也可用于描述成年人，以表明其存在一种与他人在情感上亲近的类似感受。值得注意的是，“甘え”的感受并非由言语介导，尽管经过反思可以承认它的存在。此外，当受挫时，它很容易引发对这种感受的渴望。文中引用了两个广为人知的故事，一个是法国的，另一个是美国的，以说明“甘え”的存在，事实上它的核心重要性，即使在非日本语境中也是如此。养宠物的心理也可以从“甘え”的角度来理解。因此有人认为，尽管这个概念源自日语，但它具有普遍适用性，能够为一直是精神分析研究主要对象的情感生活带来新的启示。
