Amae (甘え) is the nominal form of the verb amaeru (甘える), which Doi uses to describe the behavior of a person attempting to induce an authority figure, such as a parent, spouse, teacher, or supervisor, to take care of them.

[2] Doi argues that nonverbal empathic guesswork (察し sasshi), a fondness for unanimous agreement in decision-making, the ambiguity and hesitation of self-expression (遠慮 enryo), and the tatemae–honne dynamics are communicative manifestations of the amae psychology of Japanese people.

But he may just as well be your section head at the office, the leader of your local political faction, or simply a fellow struggler down life's byways who happened to be one or two years ahead of you at school or the university.

In Japan, amae does have a connotation of immaturity, but it is also recognized as a key ingredient in loving relationships, perhaps more so than the notions of romance so common in the West.

[citation needed] Doi's work has been heavily criticized by academics specializing in nihonjinron studies as being anecdotal and full of inaccuracies.