Chapter 33 :Comparison of the arousal dimension in Turkey and the USA

Authors : G. Akçalan Akırmak, D. Sunar & H. B. Boratav

Abstract : In the present study the semantic structure of emotion words was analysed and compared between Turkish and U.S. English using Principal Component Analysis. The results of this study supported the four-dimensional model revealed by the GRID paradigm for the meaning of emotion words. However, the Turkey and USA structures differed substantially with respect to the arousal factor. Specifically, the USA factor seems to have a broader meaning, including features related to some subjective experiences and action tendencies rather than just focusing on physiological arousal, as is the case in the Turkish factor. Moreover fear, sadness, contempt, and irritation were placed differently on the arousal dimension. The results were discussed in terms of the cultural and lexical differences between the two languages

Keywords : emotion words semantic analysis GRID AROUSAL cross-cultural study