The behavior of children towards their parents is perhaps the most common example of amae, but Doi argued that child-rearing practices in the Western world seek to stop this kind of dependence, whereas in Japan it persists into adulthood in all kinds of social relationships. However, these cultural concepts do not apply to indigenous cultures in Japan, such as the Ainu people or the Ryukyuan people, the latter of which replaces amae with humor.
The behavior of children towards their parents is a common example of amae, but Doi argued that Western child-rearing practices aim to eliminate this kind of dependence, while in Japan it persists into adulthood across all social relationships. However, these cultural concepts don't apply to indigenous groups like the Ainu or Ryukyuan people, who instead use humor as a substitute for amae.